Liability
by Animefreak11
Summary: Maemi only believes what she sees, unlike her manga obsessed friend. Naturally, she finds herself transported to the Naruto world by mistake. (Rated M for violence) KakashixOC (friendship relationship)
1. The disillusionist

My first Naruto fic! First off, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed writing this! Also, this has been half written for at _least_ three years and for some reason I felt like putting it up now when I have two weeks of exams (to grade) coming up. That's always a good idea.

In any case, I must thank Emarilily for her accurate and thorough observations as well as constant stream of comments! Without her, who knows if this would as good. I realize perhaps only a handful of people out there might appreciate this, and no offense taken if you don't, please just leave quietly. Of course, if you have constructive criticism (or, say, conjectures about the plot), then I'm all ears!

This is a slow build, and when I thought of this story, it was meant as a comedy, but somehow there's a bunch of- stuff before (at least 5 chapters) that. Hope you like injuries!

**Notes**: For villages other than Konoha, I'll use the Japanese names (i.e, Sunagakure), for spelling I'll use a version of romaji where long vowels are represented by a 'u' (i.e, jounin vs jōnin), as well as occasionally use honorifics (sensei, sama, chan, etc). Also note that I won't pluralize Japanese nouns (kunai, jounin, etc).

**Disclaimer **(are these even necessary anymore?): Masashi Kishimoto owns the entirety of Naruto and VIZ licensed the anime (in the U.S. anyway). Everything else is obviously mine (including made up words?).

Enjoy!

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 1:** **The disillusionist**

"Aww Mae, graduation's tomorrow!" Tsuneko stopped dead in her tracks, as if just realizing she'd never be in school with her best friend anymore.

"That's what I've been saying, but you seem determined to avoid looking for a job." Maemi closed her recent-grad magazine with one hand, and inserted a few coins in the vending machine. "Still reading those kids' books?" She picked up her steaming coffee, her seemingly innocent question barely hanging in the air.

"_Manga_ isn't just for kids." Tsuneko was as adamant as ever. "Seriously, I've been addicted for ten years!"

"Yeah, yeah..." And Maemi, taking a sip of her steaming beverage, was as dismissive as ever.

Tsuneko checked her nails for any chipping. "And we've been friends for how long now? Twelve, thirteen years?"

"Twelve. It's great that you seem _so_ interested in our friendship. And it's not like we're about to graduate from college either."

Tsuneko lifted her gaze from her nails to her friend's teasing face. "Oh please, what difference is that supposed to make?"

"Aren't we supposed to be grown ups? I'll never understand what's so good about those- made up surreal worlds where physics and gravity don't apply." Tsuneko's eyes widened in slight horror, shocked speechless. Maemi sipped more coffee during the brief respite before her friend playfully glared at her.

"... I sure hope you didn't just say that...!" Tsuneko took a step forward, as if stalking her prey.

"I'm pretty sure I just did."

"Maemi!"

Very much used to her friend's tactics, Maemi dove to the side, skillfully avoiding her friend's tackle without spilling any coffee. "Tsk tsk. Not when I have a hot drink at my disposition..." She slightly shook the cup held at face level.

"You wouldn't."

"Try me." Smirking, Maemi tilted the cup slightly until coffee was visible from the edge. Tsuneko quickly admitted defeat and retreated to a safer distance. Both of them walked out of the now deserted halls of their university.

"I can't believe we're really graduating tomorrow..." Tsuneko couldn't help taking long glances around.

"That's what I was telling you, but it seemed your outrage at my ignorance of your hobby drove you to slight madness."

Tsuneko seemed to be jolted awake at the mention of her hobby, "Oh! Oh oh oh! I can't believe I forgot to tell you!" She was almost jumping in place from excitement.

"What?"

"Remember what my boyfriend gave me two Christmases ago?"

"Yeah, I remember... before things got 'complicated' and you dumped him."

Tsuneko scoffed and brushed that last bit off. "Anyway, I'm totally going to place a spell on it so that it can take me to _his_ world!" Now squeaking, she was unable to stop bouncing around. Maemi raised an eyebrow suspiciously and stared at her overexcited friend for a minute in silence.

"Honestly, don't tell me you believe that stuff? A spell? If anything it'd be a curse. Besides, whichever world you're talking about, it doesn't exist. The author invented it, Tsune."

Her best friend scowled at her briefly. "No but that one works! I heard a rumor from my online friend that this old lady in a shop in Tokyo cast a spell on something once, and the owner was gone after that!"

"Oh, Tsune... What in the world am I going to do with you? Online friends, first of all, are nice, but you can never be sure they are who they say they are. Secondly, rumors are rumors for a reason. And I don't think that just because someone disappeared means they went to a nonexistent world. They could have moved to another country, died in an accident, or worse comes to worst, been murdered or something..."

Stomping the floor in frustration, Tsuneko grabbed Maemi by the shoulders and shook her like a tree. "Ughh! Don't burst my bubble! After graduation, I'm not staying in this messed up world any longer!"

Maemi smiled fondly but shook her head. "Tsune... No world is perfect, even the ones you read about."

"Yes it is! Everything works out in Konoha!" Tsuneko contradicted her, just because.

"Konoha? What's that?"

"A ninja village." Tsuneko smiled dreamily, letting her gaze wander. Maemi coughed to hide a snort and wheeled her friend around, leaving her arm across her shoulders to guide her outside.

"Right. Wouldn't a ninja world be dangerous? I don't think your athletic skills would keep you alive for long..."

Tsuneko snapped out of her daydreaming and shot Maemi an unamused look. "Gee thanks. Just because you passed P.E. doesn't mean you're better than me. You only _passed_!"

"Yep, I know. But that's of little importance since I have no plans whatsoever of going to a 'ninja' world, which, by the way, doesn't exist."

"Does too! You're so stubborn, why can't you have an open mind? You're not a science major, you have no excuse not to believe in myths or magical concepts." She opened the door a bit too brusquely as they finally left the university building and walked down hill and off campus.

"Oh come on, shouldn't you know by now I only believe what I see?"

"Of course..." She stopped walking on the sidewalk and glanced at her watch for the time. "Oops, gotta go. See you at the ceremony tomorrow!" Before Maemi even had time to open her mouth, Tsuneko was gone.

_W__ell... __b__elieving the unbelievable is her specialty._ Maemi headed home, about forty minutes away. Her apartment was small and consisted mostly of two rooms and a connected bathroom. The living room was one with her bedroom, separated from the even smaller kitchen by a thin paper door. Maemi dumped her school stuff on the floor and opened her small fridge to scavenge for food.

The more she thought about what her friend believed in, the more she felt Tsuneko was denying reality. Of course she'd be lying if she said she didn't believe in other worlds when she was little, but she'd quickly learned her lesson. There was no other world besides this one, and she was stuck in it. Since then, she had been concentrating on her studies in order to make _this_ world a better place.

Tomorrow, Maemi would receive her diploma in Global Studies. Since the beginning of last year, it had been job hunting season, though nothing had worked favorably so far in this stagnant economy. Kneeling down on the floor in front of the table, she put down the steaming bowl filled with leftovers and pulled open the newspaper. She ate dinner silently, her eyes traveling quickly across the pages, reading headlines, and important names and events. For once, she went to bed relatively early to avoid her usual sleep-deprived look during tomorrow's ceremony.

– – – –

Meanwhile, Tsuneko had rushed to her nearby apartment, hurried through the door and hopped out of her shoes and over the other pairs crowding the entrance. She flicked on a light and dashed to her room, pointedly ignoring the pile of clothes on the floor even as she pushed it aside to access her closet. Her face lit up in excitement as she grabbed her precious present from two years ago, wrapped it in a cloth bag and stuffed it gently into a fashionable tote bag.

She stopped on the way out by the bathroom, carefully stepping over a strewn towel, and checked her makeup. A hand ran across the profuse amount of tubes, sticks, eyeliners, colorful palettes and accessories on the tiny sink counter before she decided no touch up was necessary. Hastily, she put on a different pair of shoes – more comfortable for walking – and went right back out into the night. After checking the time, she nearly ran to the station and managed to squeeze through the closing train doors.

Thirty minutes later, she arrived in Akihabara and fought the crowd to follow the directions scribbled on a purple post-it. A while later, Tsuneko had found her destination – a tiny, old shop tucked in an alley behind Mandarake, a huge and famous manga and anime goods store – and pushed the door open with determination.

– – – –

The graduation ceremony had just ended and students poured out of their seats to find their family and friends. Maemi stood near her seat, looking at the delighted faces of parents and children alike. She smiled sadly until she felt someone pinching her arm. "Mae? You okay?"

"Of course!" She briefly rubbed the pinch. "We just graduated!"

"You looked distracted for a minute..."

Maemi laughed and cut her off with a hug. "Congratulations bubble head! You made it through college!"

Tsuneko hugged her back, and chuckled, trying to put on an offended look. "Hey now- what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, I'm just happy. Real world- here we come!"

At that moment, Tsuneko's parents walked up to them, smiling. "Congratulations to you both." The two friends nodded their thanks, beaming with radiant smiles. "Will you join us for a celebration Maemi? We made reservations at Tsuneko's favorite restaurant with you in mind, since you two are practically sisters." Tsuneko grabbed Mae's sleeve and tugged, nodding fervently. Maemi couldn't help a short laugh at her best friend and her uncanny puppy imitation.

Maemi's father was on a last minute business trip abroad while her mother had to go deal with unavoidable family circumstances in Nagasaki. She had, however, received two emails earlier this morning stating how happy and proud her parents were of her accomplishments. Giving in to Tsune's antics, she acquiesced. "Thank you, I'll gladly join you."

Tsuneko wrapped her arm around Maemi's neck. "We just need to drop off stuff at her place. We'll meet you there."

"Oh, you know what, it's alright, you don't need to come with me." Maemi extricated herself out of the embrace with half a smile. "I'll just quickly drop the stuff there. Why don't you go with your parents?"

"But-"

"Look, I'm already crashing your family dinner, _and_ we have the evening booked, so why don't you spend that little time alone with your parents? They'll appreciate it." Maemi pat Tsune's back. "Just give me your stuff, and I'll be there in a bit."

Tsuneko caved in and gave her friend a stuffed bag. "Don't touch anything, 'k?" She ran off to catch up with her parents.

"Why would I? I'm a big girl!" Maemi walked off in the other direction, back to her apartment. Two train rides and thirty minutes later, she put Tsune's stuff on the table and dropped her keys beside it. Contently, she opened her diploma again and stared at it for a short while. Finally, she was done, and now an infinite amount of possibilities as to what to do in this broad world. Maemi walked to the bathroom and flicked on the light to reapply some basic makeup when she heard something thump in the living room. Slightly frowning, she put down the eyeliner next to the sink and stepped back out, looking for the source of the foreign sound. She sighed in relief. The bag had just fallen off the table. How could she even think someone else was in here? This was one of the safest parts of Tokyo, even if she hadn't locked the door, no one would ever break in.

On the floor, beneath the table, was something wrapped in a cloth bag. Intrigued, Maemi carefully kneeled down in her pristine graduation dress and bent forward. As she slowly reached for the object, she felt her left hand prick the closer it approached the object. Frowning slightly, she withdrew her hand right before it touched the wrapping. Sitting straight up again, she stared at the mysterious object. Tsuneko did say not to touch anything, but it'd fallen out of the bag.

It wasn't really the fact of disobeying her friend's words that bothered Maemi, but rather the prickling sensation on her left palm. "What am I thinking." She grabbed the cloth bag firmly, about to put it back in her friend's bag. However, the object stuck to her open palm. "What th-" But the world started spinning and blurring. It felt like her stomach was being pulled down and back at the same time, as if it was being sucked into a vacuum, and her body followed. Black dots impaired her vision, her whole body felt sluggish and pricked by tiny needles, then everything just – vanished.


	2. Real nightmare

I'm updating! And I feel so out of practice...

In any case, let me know what you guys think. :)

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 2: Real nightmare**

Tsuneko clicked her phone shut again, nibbling on her lip. It had been more than two hours since Maemi had last been seen, and Tsuneko and her parents had called her repeatedly, yet never got an answer. Fidgeting in her seat, Tsuneko stared at the food, long gone cold. Unable to eat dinner since concern was gnawing at their insides, the family arrived at Maemi's apartment half an hour later. They knocked and knocked, but still nothing moved from within.

Tsuneko, incapable of waiting any longer – patience was never her forte – grabbed the handle and yanked the door open. To her surprise, it did just that. Peeking inside, she called her friend. "Mae? You alright?"

No reply.

The new graduate stepped inside the familiar place and glanced around. Unlike her apartment, Maemi kept hers clean and relatively tidy: the dishes didn't crowd the sink, trash and recyclables sat neatly in a corner, the shoes in the entrance didn't act as a stronghold. Tsuneko took her shoes off and walked in, noticing the lights were on, yet saw no sign of her friend. Becoming more and more anxious, she quickly waltzed through the small apartment. "Mae, it's not funny anymore..."

Her father examined the door and the lock, then entered and glanced at the keys on the table. "There's no sign of a struggle..."

"She could have stepped outside..." Her mother's voice quivered slightly.

Tsuneko was almost running up the walls with worry. "Outside? Without her keys? Don't be ridiculous, she'd never leave the door unlocked, or the lights on, she's too green for that." She forced a few loud chuckles. Her parents gave her a worried look. "What? I'm sure- I'm sure she's fine." Her voice was two pitches higher than usual.

Her mother gently grabbed her shoulder. "Honey-"

Tsuneko looked away, her gaze landing in the middle of Maemi's room. Her eyes widened instantly when she noticed something. She nearly tripped in the three steps she took to get to the table, where Maemi's diploma still laid. Tsune saw her hands yank her own bag open. "No- It can't be... NO!" The bag dropped as her hands and arms went numb.

It was gone... The plushie she'd gotten from her boyfriend two years ago – the one she had a spell cast on – was nowhere to be found. Tsuneko fell over, eyes wide but unseeing. So many thoughts buzzed through her head. _It's my fault... Did it work? Is Mae really in the Naruto world? Did she meet him yet? What if something happens to her!? No, but how will she come back!?_

Realization and shock hit her square in the stomach. She caused her best friend to disappear against her will. How would she ever amend for that?

– – – –

The next thing Maemi was half conscious of was the feeling of some kind of ground against her stomach, and the smell of something foreign making her nose itchy. Her head pounded, especially one spot against a cool surface. Something was also stuck under her left arm, making it sore from the forced awkward position it rested in. Her limbs felt heavy, she could hardly move them through the constant tingling sensation. Even with her eyes closed, it felt like the world swayed beneath her, along with her mind, leaving her disoriented. Her ears rung, blocking out almost every other sound. She felt sick to her stomach and although she didn't have any strength, her stomach heaved and she found herself attempting to sit up as she vomited from nausea.

She plopped back down, exhausted. Her face felt hot and clammy, her body much warmer than usual, as if she'd just run a marathon. Her head gave a few protesting throbs until she stopped moving, barely noticing how hair stuck to her moist temple. She closed her eyes again, trying to stop the back and forth swaying motion. However, the feeling of something cold and seemingly sharp below her jawline seemed to momentarily stabilize the rocking world. Hazily, she opened her eyes again, and realization dawned on her. She was lying on the ground, perhaps in a forest, and the dead leaves and twigs poked through her clothes to bite her skin, including her face.

The cool sensation, she realized, came from the something that someone held. Strange, it seemed like the world was rocking back and forth again. Maemi heard him ask something, though she couldn't really make out what through the incessant ringing. It seemed her hearing was still out of whack... Before long, everything had gone black again.

When she woke up, her arms were pulled back in an uncomfortable position and sore for some unknown reason. Slowly, as she regained feeling in each limb, she realized the soreness was caused by her bound wrists on her back, as if she was under arrest. Her right temple gave a painful sharp throb as she opened her eyes, and she wasn't quite sure why.

An acrid aftertaste tainted her mouth; what she wouldn't have given for some water! Voices jerked her out of her wondering state and her eyes scanned the vicinity. A cool breeze brushed through the trees and brought a chill, yet also focused her attention on the circle of people around a small fire. The haziness she experienced earlier forgotten, she frowned at their highly unusual clothes. Odd bandages, pouches and... _Are those w__eapons!?_ As soon as she realized the potential danger, adrenaline pumped through her system; at the same time, a face turned towards her.

"Hey, she's awake." A man had been staring at her, but his announcement brought four new pair of eyes on her. Even though intimidated, Maemi stared back at the man, trying to hide her fear. Another man stood up and took a few steps towards her, his dark eyes looking through her like she was made of paper. He kneeled next to her face, an elbow on his knee to steady himself.

"Tell us where the copy ninja is, and you might walk free."

His tone and expression were serious, yet Maemi couldn't help but think this was some kind of prank, somehow. Even though she was here – wherever here _was_ – and tied up barefoot in her graduation dress, she had no other explanation except that Tsuneko had somehow arranged this to encourage her open-mindedness. "... Look, uh... I don't know what Tsuneko told or promised you, but I really don't fancy indulging her and her alternate universes..."

The man's expression became a puzzled one and he shot a quizzical glance at his comrades still near the fire. They all gave him a confused look. "A _place_, woman. Tell us where the sharingan user is and you won't have to die!"

Maemi stared at him in confusion. "... Who?" Her heart rate picked up again. Why should she die? She hadn't done anything! "I don't- I'm not sure what you're talking about-"

The man shoved the plushie in her face, the same one she'd grabbed what she thought to be mere minutes ago. "Hatake Kakashi. Don't play dumb with me, we've been tracking him for days! Doesn't this prove you're on his side!?" An eerie silence followed, yet Maemi still had no idea what he was talking about. That thing was Tsuneko's, she'd glimpsed at it in her apartment right before- right before the world went black.

Suddenly it was as if a black hole formed in her heart and stomach all at once. This was the present Tsuneko had bragged about, the same one she wanted a spell cast on. Had it worked? _Am_ _I_ _**really**__ in another world!?_ Her lips quickly dried up as she attempted to explain what had happened. "Actually- you see, I'm... I'm not from here and I have no idea who you're talking about." Her eyes implored him to understand her predicament.

Before she knew what hit her, she tasted blood in her mouth. Stunned, she realized the man must have back-handed her so hard she bit her own cheek. Fear gripped every fiber of her being. Was this what fearing death felt like? "Yorikane-sama, please calm down. Even if it _seems_ like she's telling the truth, she had this didn't she?" Another guy grabbed the plushie.

"That's right..." Yorikane straightened himself out. "For a weakling, you're a pretty good liar."

Maemi was at an utter loss of words. Liar? She'd told them nothing but the truth! How could they think otherwise just because of a doll!? That aside, why was she a weakling? Just because she was a woman didn't mean she was necessarily weak! "Regardless, it seems the prey took the bait."

"In positions." Yorikane grinned madly with excitement. Everyone else disappeared, but Maemi found herself standing, a blade at her throat and her back against a wall of muscles. Adrenaline kicked in again with renewed fear. What in the world was going on!?

She'd only taken one breath when the clashing of blades drowned her hearing, but she had yet to see the newcomers. After three long minutes of hearing nothing but clashes and yells on top of breathing in dust, she was surprised by the sudden silence. Maemi's eyes widened as the three figures emerged from the clearing dust. The one on the left was dressed all in black, his extremely pale skin contrasting with his uniform, especially his exposed midriff. He held a short sword in one hand and stood at the ready, his face smiling.

The one on the right wore a green vest over dark blue sleeves and his face was outlined by what looked like a silver guard. He didn't hold any weapons, but like all three men, he also had a pouch wrapped around his leg. And lastly, the man standing in the middle looked like a life size version of Tsuneko's plushie. Silver spiked hair, a mask and a covered eye. Although this didn't quite constitute proof, she at least saw who the plushie was based off.

"Tanuma Yorikane. As expected," said the silver haired man.

The man holding Maemi against him chuckled deeply, "Hatake Kakashi. How good of you to answer my message," he replied, pressing his thumb into Maemi's injured forehead.

The one called Kakashi gave the shadow of a frown. "If you could call it that," he replied calmly. Like the two next to him, he had already assessed the situation. Even if the hostage was a stranger, they could hardly sit by and let her get killed, especially if she was just a pawn to catch them.

"I'm glad you found your way," said Yorikane, his grip on Maemi's arm tightening uncomfortably. She fought her hardest to stay quiet, afraid that even a breath out of place would cost her her life. Her shoulders throbbed painfully from being in the same unnatural position for too long. The rope binding her hands bit into her wrists mercilessly, as if trying to break her resolve to remain quiet. At the same time, Yorikane's four comrades appeared out of thin air, surrounding the newcomers.

The three outnumbered men didn't seem fazed and their synchronization amazed Maemi. Well, the bit she could see, anyway. Once again, people became blurs and voices blended into each other. She couldn't see or understand jutsu, but things were flying at each other and too soon, a man slammed into a nearby tree, breaking it in half. He didn't budge. Just as the word "Wha-" left Maemi's mouth, the man holding her – Yorikane – shoved her backwards as he eagerly joined the fight.

It wouldn't have been a problem, were it not for the minor detail that they were located next to a ravine. As Yorikane engaged Kakashi in battle, Maemi was still stumbling backward, half spinning to regain her balance yet her bound hands destabilized her even further. Then the ground vanished from under her feet and she began falling towards the raging river 100 meters below. A sound had barely escaped her mouth that a well placed broken tree stump broke her fall by half puncturing her left arm, and in doing so ripped a short scream out of her. Her left elbow hung on the higher part of the stump, but her arm bled somewhat heavily.

Tears of pain began blurring Maemi's vision. _This can't be happening... This is a nightmare!_ But her reasoning didn't work, even in her scariest nightmares, she'd never known pain like this, pain too real to ever imagine. She could feel blood dripping down her arm, onto her shoulder and collarbone. Besides the pain, the reality of her situation sank in rather quickly. Even though this hurt, she had better endure it, unless she wanted to die. Were it not for this tree, she'd be helplessly drowning in that furious river.

She tried very hard not to move a muscle and practically stopped breathing, fully aware that even the slightest shifting of weight could cause her death. Yet her efforts were in vain, because she heard a much dreaded sound much too soon: that of cracking wood. Looking beyond her bare feet, desperately trying to find footing to avoid the plunge, she fixed the far distant river. The stab in her arm throbbed and she grit her teeth in pain, a tear racing down to her chin. Unexpectedly, her body jolted, then she heard the sound again and felt her elbow slip away from the stump as her body tilted towards the bottom. She was too heavy, whatever grabbed and stabbed her couldn't hold her up indefinitely.

With a growing lump in her throat, she could do nothing but wait for the inescapable fall. Too soon, she heard the final crack of the wood and felt gravity pulling her down. For half a second, she was floating, then, with a sharp intake of air, she began the plunge. The air rushed around her, her body slightly turning during the fall. Eyes open wide in terror, she saw the brick of water she'd soon collide into. In a last minute effort to protect her spine, she drew in her legs and curled in her neck, folding in the shape of a fetus. With a deafening crash, she found herself batted away by the strong current, the air knocked out of her.

Fighting the sting of water against her open eyes, she tried discerning which way was up and attempted kicking towards the surface. Yet her weak kicks did nothing but twirl her body uselessly, her arms struggling against their restraints so she could at least try to swim. Much too soon, the last of her air bubbled to the surface and her body, demanding oxygen, forced her to breathe in water. Purely out of instinct she coughed it out, only to be forced to swallow some more. She felt herself sinking, still pushed around by the current, her lungs burning against the water inside her. She could now see the shimmering rays of sunlight beyond her reach taunting her, illuminating the much needed surface.

As she gulped another mouthful of water, something grabbed her right arm and tugged her up, breaking through the current determinedly. When Maemi next blinked, she realized she was lying on her stomach on firm _ground_. Her arms suddenly fell to her sides and she started coughing out the water from her lungs, seeing the wet smiling face of the man who pulled her out right before he disappeared. Slowly sitting up as the last of the water dripped from her open mouth, she looked around, but she was alone. The pale skinned man who saved her had already vanished, leaving her slightly downstream, but at the bottom of the ravine.

It was probably for the best, the less she saw of the other freaky, hot-tempered man the better. She shivered, even without the strong gust of wind sweeping through the ravine. Looking up at the imposing cliff, Maemi stared, incredulous. A wave of nausea hit her again and she bent over, her injured arm clutching her stomach as if to stop the incoming vomiting. Her throat burned as she spewed stomach acid and water onto the rocks in front of her. Left aching and trembling from the whole experience, she spit the acrid taste out and wobbled to the river to rinse her mouth. She slumped as soon as she sat down, her right arm the only strong pillar keeping her from falling down.

Distant clashes echoed from above, as if she was waking up from a bad dream. Alas, Maemi didn't feel better. Her breaths were quick and raspy, her lungs still burning from the water, not to mention her depleting red cell stock. Slowly, she turned her arm so she could take a look at the wound, frowning at the sight. _If I don't stop the bleeding-_ There was only thing she could use as a makeshift bandage, and that would be her expensive dress. She grabbed one end and gripped it tightly in between teeth before ripping it with her non-injured arm.

Once she got a decent length on that, she kept the piece in her mouth and began wrapping the wound slowly yet firmly, cringing repeatedly throughout the process. Finally, she tied the cloth tightly and took a few minutes to focus on her breathing to avoid dizziness. The fight up there didn't seem very close anymore, but above the roar of the river she could still hear distant sounds. Time passed excruciatingly slowly. For lack of anything to do, or anywhere to go, Maemi was stuck in her thoughts, hearing them buzz 'round and 'round endlessly. _I'm in another world... dimension? Parallel universe... Regardless, I'm not at home. Has Tsune realized it yet...? Will she tell my parents, or will they get a call from the gas company saying I'm unreachable and haven't paid my bills?_

Could this really be the world that Tsuneko wanted to come to? She definitely couldn't see the appeal in it, the chances of getting killed were much too high! Suddenly, the sound of something cutting through the air caught her attention and she stood to find the source of the noise. She jumped when something grazed her cheek and landed in the river behind her, an explosion following soon after, showering her with more water. The blast of the explosion managed to propel her forward until she hugged the cliff side. Fear gripped her entrails once again as she remained against the cliff, perhaps to shield herself from- whatever just missed her by a hair.

In denial, she squatted down and hugged her knees with one arm, slightly rocking back and forth as if she was waiting to wake from this terrible dream. Maybe if she closed her eyes and waited long enough... But when she opened her eyes again, Maemi realized her neck and shoulders were stiff. She was also no longer squatting but lying on the ground. Had she managed to fall asleep? She was astounded at herself and sat up, straining her ears to hear any sound other than that of the river but heard nothing.

Taking a few steps away from the cliff, she peered at the top. Nothing. Thankful, yet at the same time annoyed, she assessed the wall in front of her, debating whether she should attempt to climb it or not. The wind blew through the ravine again, and she shivered violently. The sun was setting, this place would get really dark, not to mention really cold. _G__uess I've got no choice._ She clenched her left fist a couple of times, trying to build a little tolerance to the pain shooting in her muscles. "Here we go..."

Her right hand shot up and grabbed a rock, steadying herself as she lifted her feet against the cliff, raising her left arm at the last moment. Already breathing heavily from the strain, she pushed herself off her feet and reached for a higher hold. Maemi carefully progressed higher and higher, as if everything but the wind and the declining sun had slowed to a near standstill. By the time she was nearly halfway up, her left arm was ready to give out, and the wind blew as if aiming to take her off the cliff side. Panting, she made the mistake to glance down. Instantly her eyes snapped shut and she glued herself to the rocks, her muscles tensing considerably.

_Almost there-!_ Once again, pushing herself from the legs, she reached with her right hand for that crevice. _Just a bit more-_ But her left arm, which supported her while she reached for the next hold, throbbed painfully and weakened suddenly. "Shi-!" Terrified, she tried grabbing whatever was closest and would stop her from falling to a certain death. But it was useless, with her left arm out of the picture, whatever she grabbed wasn't good enough to stop her completely. Her scraped feet slipped on the rock and soon she was falling again, arm outstretched to grab onto anything that could save her.

Darkness engulfed her.


	3. Ludicrous world

Still out of practice! Thankfully I have at least one more chapter ready for you guys, it's just hard to post them when not at home...

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 3: Ludicrous world**

Maemi felt as though she were floating. Through the darkness, she could hear unfamiliar voices, a faint sizzling and even smell something appetizing. Slowly, as if emerging from deep waters, she realized her body was lying on the ground and she was no longer cold. Her sore limbs awoke slowly, a tingly feeling coursing through her veins. Her eyes fluttered open and focused on the ceiling. Was it- wood? There was a yellowish glow dancing with shadows around the room. The murmurs stopped as she shifted slightly, attempting to sit up. Pain shot through her arm and head nearly simultaneously and she remained lying, calming her breath.

She wasn't home. This wasn't a dream after all...

"You're awake," stated a voice above her. Startled, she focused her gaze on the man who spoke. It was the same man as earlier, the one with the face guard. Now she definitely wanted to sit and have a good talk with these guys, as long as it meant a way home. He must have anticipated her reaction, "Easy, you hit your head pretty badly."

Maemi could only reply a half mumbled "Huhn?"

"You fell from the cliff, do you remember?"

Cliff? Oh- How could she forget? She gave a slow nod, trying to avoid another painful jab. It was only then that she realized something was wrapped around her head. "Here-" began the man then gently helped her sit up. He gave her a half smile and a cup of water before returning next to the fire with his two companions. Maemi noticed all three of them were staring at her even as she drank, downing the cup in three thirsty gulps.

The one she recognized as her savior from the river kept on smiling, his skin glowing yellow next to the small source of light. Seeing as no one else spoke, face guard man took the initiative. "Could we have your name?"

A name was benign enough, she didn't see the harm in sharing that information, and it was a good conversation starter. "Maemi," she answered, still glancing around the room. It was utterly deserted, except for three covers and the small oil-based candle, but entirely made of wood, a rather strange sight.

The man smiled, as if relieved that she spoke at all. "My name's Yamato," he introduced himself, "This here is Sai," he patted the shoulder of the pale skinned man next to him, "and that's Kakashi," he finished, motioning to the still and quiet masked man.

_Kakashi..._ Now that she thought back, it resembled what that lunatic had called him. She nodded semi-politely, still feeling like a fish out of water. She was way out of her depth.

"And that," Yamato pointed to the doll, "is yours?"

Maemi nodded too quickly at once, regretting that instantly when her head throbbed sharply, before uttering a "yes." Yamato glanced at Kakashi before walking over and handing it to her. She grabbed it with a slight pause before holding it dearly with both hands. She stared at the plushie a bit before remembering she wasn't alone, yet the room had gone silent.

"What village are you from? I've never seen that kind of material before," asked Yamato, referring to her dress.

This was bound to happen. She doubted whether or not they would believe her story, but facts were facts, and... she had no alternative. Taking a deep breath, Maemi told her story. The story about her friend wanting to cast a spell on her doll, how she disappeared from her world after touching it and how she came to be surrounded by the strange men. Silence reigned once she finished talking and she let herself glance at them. The one named Sai was still smiling, though now it looked forced. Yamato had gone quiet and was staring at the flickering flame while Kakashi was the only one who looked back at her.

"It could certainly explain her low chakra..." he mumbled, at once avoiding her gaze to look at his companions.

Only now did she notice their dirty clothes and traces of blood hidden beneath a few bandages, most likely remnants of the previous encounter. The vivid image of a guy hitting the tree violently floated in front of her eyes. She was both grateful and intimidated; if the guys who could defeat the earlier men turned out to be as crazy, she was, without a doubt, doomed. Their demeanor and polite treatment convinced her otherwise, but a whisper in the back of her mind kept her vigilant. She was in unknown territory, she better be ready for the inconceivable.

"Look," she began boldly, "I just want to go back home. If- you know of a way, I'd appreciate a little help..." she finished, wavering halfway through her statement. They were more intimidating than she liked to admit.

They all looked at each other, and judging by their reaction, they didn't have good news. "We understand..." began Yamato, a bit uncertain.

"But you're still injured. We've sent for some medics, so let's wait until they get here first before making decisions," finished Sai, still smiling.

Medics? In the middle of nowhere? Might as well walk to greet them, what were the chances they'd find them? Nobody said anything for a long while, and even though Maemi had just woken up she felt tired and had trouble keeping her eyes open. Slowly she leaned back, resting on her right elbow, but as time passed she fell asleep.

She woke up to the sound of hushed voices. "You should have let me heal you first," chided a young feminine voice. Maemi opened her eyes, saw pink hair and assumed she was still dreaming. Though why would she ever give someone pink hair? A most unfortunate idea.

Maemi's thoughts were distracted when someone chuckled, "Sorry Sakura, but you know me..."

"Indeed I do," sighed the girl's voice, "'No no, it's nothing, don't worry.' I'll be damned to listen to you next time." Maemi looked again, there _was_ a girl with pink hair, and the man with the mask looked apologetic. His back was against the wall and a strange green glow seemed to be coming off the girl's hands. How absurd, how could hands glow? Such a ridiculous world. "There, that should do it."

"Impressive as always, Sakura. It's as good as new," replied the live figurine, Kakashi, bending and extending his left arm. Only then did Maemi realize the other two were nowhere in sight, she briefly wondered where they went. The girl called Sakura stood up and turned around, looking at Maemi then smiling briefly.

"Oh good, you're awake. Let me tend to your wounds quickly, then we can be on our way." She was at Maemi's side before she could even answer. The girl placed both hands around her wrapped head and a strange, warm tingling feeling spread through her skull. Before she knew it, her headache had vanished and she felt more present. "I can't use too much chakra for now, so I'll mainly heal the outer part of the wound on your arm. The rest will be seen to once we get to Konoha."

Maemi was still confused, and somewhat speechless. Chakra? Wait, did she say _Konoha_? Her remaining doubts nearly imploded. _Tsuneko would be happy to know the spell worked..._ Maemi was overtaken with the sudden urge to laugh at the situation yet somehow held it in. She felt her arm throb as the girl's hands definitely glowed green again. "Sorry, it's all I can manage for now..." smiled the girl apologetically.

"I- it's fine..." stammered Maemi in response. She didn't quite know what else to say, mostly because she wasn't sure she understood the 'chakra' concept completely, if at all.

Sakura turned to speak with Kakashi, "I'll tell the others we'll be able to leave in fifteen minutes." He nodded and she left the room.

Kakashi glanced at Maemi before taking a few steps towards her. "Can you stand?"

"Ah- yes," hurriedly answered Maemi, using her left arm as support. She realized how dumb that was as she winced in pain and toppled over from losing her balance. A maddening blush spread on her face, which deepened a shade when she heard a faint cough. Kakashi took one more step forward and held out his left hand for her to take. Flushing furiously, she grabbed the plushie with her left hand but stood up on her own, embarrassed enough to crawl into a hole. Her grip on the plushie was quite tight, and her semi-injured arm twinged in protest.

The plushie fell to the floor. "Ah-" Before she could bend to grab it, Kakashi was offering it to her. With a slight nod of the head, she grabbed the other half. In that instant, her left arm gave a sharp painful throb just as Kakashi concealed a wince, letting go of the plushie in the process. Maemi nearly dropped it again but managed to hold onto it by clutching it tightly with her right hand. When she looked up she noticed the disturbed expression on his face, the visible part anyway. "Is- is something wrong?"

Kakashi's face broke into what seemed to be a giant smile, "Oh no, not at all. Let's go outside, Yamato's about to take this down." He must have seen the confused expression on Maemi's face because he added, "We'll- try to explain things on the way, right now we need to move." And without waiting for confirmation, he grabbed the covers she'd been using and made his way out, showing her the way down two flights of stairs. They'd barely stepped outside that the wood seemed to shrink, creak and twist itself into the ground until it was no more.

Amazed, Maemi stared at the spot that a minute ago had been a decently sized mansion. Yamato grinned briefly then nodded to his companions. A new loud voice interrupted her buzzing thoughts, "-at's why I should have come the first time! None of that would've happened Kakashi-sensei!" Following the sound of the complaining voice, Maemi stared at the boy. Surely she was seeing wrong, the morning sun had somehow blinded her. How could someone's hair be so yellow? It was past blond!

The said boy noticed her staring and broke into a wide grin, but before he could even approach her, the girl called Sakura smacked him on the head. "Don't even think about it. We have to pack," she said sternly.

"Yes... Sakura-chan," he replied obediently. Maemi could only look from person to person, still attempting to grasp the situation she'd somehow landed in, yet it was- difficult. The group she met yesterday was huddled, kneeling in a circle, a fourth boy with an explosive pony tail in their midst. They seemed deep in conversation, so Maemi turned to look at the pair with strange hair. They seemed younger than her, yet she felt they emanated a weird maturity. They checked the packed bags, and once everything was ready the blond boy walked up to her curiously.

Suddenly very self-conscious under his stare, she took a step back, keeping a slight distance from him. "What?" she asked defensively, frowning slightly.

"I didn't notice before, but it's like they said, you have almost no chakra! How can you even move around?" he asked, his face alight with nothing but curiosity. "Can you really stay awake the whole day?" Maemi blinked, unsure whether this was a bad joke or if she somehow looked incapacitated to them. Thankfully, she was rescued before she could even answer.

"NARUTO!" Sakura stomped forward with the motion of pushing back her sleeve. The blond gulped anxiously, putting his hands up as he stepped backwards slowly.

"N-now now, Sakura-chan, I was just cur-"

"What kind of questions do you think you're asking!?" she fumed and grabbed his head with her gloved hand.

The boy cringed in pain, "But, Sakura-chan- isn't it some kind of medical discovery?" She must have tightened her grip on his head, "Ouch, that hurts- Sakura-chan. Ow ow ow! Okay, I take it back! I'm sorry!"

With a triumphant grin, she let go and gave him a meaningful look. "Next time, don't be so rude!" She turned her back on him and closed the distance between her and Maemi, who was really tempted to take a step back until she saw the girl's sincere smile. "I'm sorry about him, he's just an idiot."

"That's- quite okay," replied Maemi neutrally with a weak nod.

The girl didn't seem to pay too much attention to her words and clasped her hands behind her back, "My name's Sakura. It's nice to meet you." She bowed slightly.

"I'm Maemi. Pleasure..." Although Maemi felt her greeting was too sarcastic, Sakura made no indication that she'd picked up on it.

"Anyway, they're going over the last details for the way back. I think they said you'd be with Sai, it's fastest and probably safest for you," said Sakura, "We'll meet up with you again in front of Konoha, of course," she continued, oblivious to Maemi's blank stare. "So don't worry about anything and enjoy the ride!" she finally finished with a big smile.

Ride? Wait, Sai... He was the smiley one, the one who pulled her out of the river. And yet again, before she could ask questions, the meeting broke up and the one with the face guard (Yamato was it?) came up to her. "You'll be going by air with Sai." He gave her a brief smile just as Sai came up behind him, a smile still plastered on his face. "You'll leave first, once we know we're clear." Maemi gave a slow nod, still unsure what the heck was going on. By air? How exactly would that work?

"Gee Shikamaru, you've outdone yourself." Sakura glanced at the scroll before he rolled it up.

"Heh, it's nothing but troublesome..." The guy with the explosive ponytail looked, if anything, utterly bored and ready for a nap.

Suddenly, a dog jumped from out of nowhere and landed in the middle of the dispersed group. Was he wearing clothes? Maemi stared at him dubiously when he sniffed the air and turned to look at her briefly before turning away. "Kakashi, you're good to go." Maemi stared open-mouthed, but noticed everyone's lack of reaction. Was she the only one completely freaked out?

"Wait- what?" she let out before she could stop herself, bringing everyone's eyes on her. "Did he just- speak!?" There was a slight note of hysteria in her voice, as if this had been the last straw. Glowing hands healed wounds, and people who moved like blurs threw knives at each other. And now speaking dogs?

Kakashi smiled kindly, "He's my nin-dog, Pakkun." Pakkun responded by sitting down and scratching his ear.

"Right... of course," replied Maemi in a strained whisper. "I've landed in a nuthouse. Tsune, if I ever see you again, I'll _kill you_!"

Kakashi acknowledged Pakkun, who disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Well, we can't waste any time then. Sai."

The latter nodded, whipped out a scroll of paper and a brush. Quickly and accurately he drew a large bird; nothing out of the ordinary, simply calligraphy practice at a very strange time. Maemi jumped back when the bird flew out of the scroll, her eyes wide in considerable surprise. _Is there anything that's impossible in this world!?_ The ink bird flapped around and landed in the middle of the group. Sai agilely jumped on its back before looking at Maemi and extending a hand.

So this is what they meant by air travel. Right, no big deal, just a bird made of ink flying in the wide open sky. "Hell. No." Maemi couldn't stop herself. This was ludicrous. Couldn't they just- walk? Under everyone's perplexed stares, she shook her head. "I'm not getting on that thing. I mean- what the hell!?" She could feel herself tearing up in confusion and frustration and saw the irritation in their faces, but she didn't care. She never asked to be here!

"Look-" began an exasperated Yamato, "We need you out of the way to move faster. Right now-"

"You're nothing but a hindrance," finished Sai with a smile, his hand still extended towards her. Before she could reply, or protest for that matter, Yamato pushed her forward and Sai firmly grabbed her wrist, and pulled her on the bird behind him.

The bird flapped its wings and lifted off the ground, creating a cloud of dust. "See you in Konoha," said Yamato just before the bird gained altitude and soared high above the forest.

Sai briefly glanced at Maemi over his shoulder. "You best hold on."

The bird flapped its wings again and accelerated rapidly. "To what!?" shrieked Maemi, trying her hardest not to look down. The bird had no feathers to grab, it felt like paper, flat and smooth. Quickly, she grabbed Sai's shoulders tightly. Sai blinked. That wasn't what he had in mind, but as long as she didn't fall off...


	4. Whiplash

Things are getting messy!

I'll leave my tumblr here, just in case you want to take a guess where this is headed, have suggestions, better tags (because I'm honestly not great at them, you might've noticed), or anything, really.

Enjoy! :D

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 4: Whiplash**

As the bird climbed higher still, Maemi kept her eyes determinedly shut. Once the bird leveled off, she realized she'd been nearly hugging Sai's back and awkwardly tried to keep her distance. Her grip slackened somewhat so as to hide her trembling. Even though the sun was out, wearing a dress didn't help. Determinedly, she looked straight ahead, though she could mostly see the back of Sai's head. She took a few calming breaths until she felt she had her emotions under control. After a few more minutes, she cleared her throat. Sai said nothing. "... Can I ask you something?" She tried to see the side of his face.

"What is it?"

"If I'm a hindrance... why didn't you just let me get killed?" The question hung in the air for a brief moment. "I mean, I don't even know you and you saved me and- treated me and... Back there, if I were you, I would have left without me," she continued talking, as if it was helping her sort it out.

Sai contemplated the question for a while. "I'm not sure. I'm only following orders." He let her glimpse his smile.

"... I see..." she answered softly, unsure whether to feel disappointed or not. "Then- you were ordered to pull me from the river?"

"... No. Not directly, anyway. I suppose I was the closest one, that's all," he replied nonchalantly.

Maemi nodded once. With a cringe, she withdrew her left hand from his shoulder. Her arm still hurt. Now that she paid attention, her whole body was still sore and her feet still bore the cuts from the climb. Her head was the exception, she supposed she had Sakura to thank for that. "Well... thanks anyway... you know, for saving my life." Sai glanced behind him and gave her another one of his smiles.

– – – –

As planned, the others had planted fake trails behind them and erased theirs before taking a detour to Konoha. They moved swiftly and silently, everyone on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. They had to assume that Yorikane had gone for backup yesterday, leaving the rest of his men to die. He was a troublesome fellow with a vendetta against Konoha, especially Kakashi. The idea that he was somewhere between them and Konoha was irksome, but likely.

Kakashi, like the others, wore a guarded expression, though his thoughts strayed from the potential danger. He was more concerned about the sudden pain in his body, especially his left arm ever since he touched that look-alike doll. He had a weird feeling about it all, a gut instinct telling him the girl and her doll were bad news. He could, however, hardly sit by and watch her get killed, especially considering how vulnerable she was. Trying not to get too discouraged, he held back a sigh.

All of a sudden, Yamato yelled, "Kakashi!" Snapped out of his thoughts, the Copy Ninja flipped out of the way as the kunai embedded itself in a tree, detonating instantly. Landing on a lower branch, parallel to his last position, he glanced at the direction from which the kunai came. The surroundings had grown quiet, as if all the animals had either gone still or fled the area.

Shikamaru, perched behind Kakashi, tsked dispassionately. Above Shikamaru, Yamato stood at the ready while Sakura and Naruto, now in front, scanned their surroundings. Out of the trees a couple meters away emerged a dozen of ninja, Yorikane in their lead. The rogue ninja wore a satisfied smirk, "Got yourselves some reinforcements, hmm?"

The Konoha group said nothing as Sakura gestured at Naruto to be quiet. "Hmm, that's strange... Your pet isn't with you?" he mocked, referring of course to the weird lying girl from yesterday. "Thought that perhaps she wasn't safe on the ground?"

The group frowned. How could he possibly know? Yorikane shouldn't know Sai's abilities!

"Unfortunately for you, I'm a step ahead this time, Kakashi." Before they could regroup or grasp the meaning of his words, Yorikane and his comrades attacked, throwing kunai and conjuring jutsu ahead.

– – – –

Sai and Maemi had been flying in silence for a while. Sai wasn't the talkative type and Maemi, who could be talkative, didn't want to start asking questions. Besides, she was still grasping the concept of flying on an ink bird in a foreign world she knew someone from the _real_ world had made up. Yet here she was. Meaning that "magic" did work, either by bringing her in the midst of a manga world, or somehow that this world existed parallel to the only world she was familiar with. Just thinking about all the implications was enough to make her dizzy. _It's probably __best__ to stop thinking about it..._

Her somewhat healed wound throbbed in pain yet again, as if she'd been exerting it. Regardless, she wasn't a fan. As if it would help in any way, she grabbed her arm with her right hand and squeezed tightly, clenching her jaw. Sai, who noticed her letting go, slightly turned towards her. "Something wrong?"

Maemi opened her mouth to answer when he suddenly narrowed his eyes and the bird dipped sideways, nearly at a 90 degree angle. With a cut off scream, she scrambled to grab onto him, holding on for dear life, especially when she made the mistake to glance sideways and realized she could see the trees as if from a glass floor. "Hold on," advised a frowning Sai, albeit a bit late. The bird abruptly shot up, gaining speed rather rapidly.

Heart pounding and limbs shaking, Maemi tightened her grip around her own forearms, barely realizing her arms were wound around Sai's chest. She was pretty sure she'd die of fright if she were to fall off. Until then, she hadn't seen what caused these escape maneuvers, for if they were anything else, she'd kill her savior ten times over. Just as they were about to enter a cloud, no doubt for cover, something fast streaked straight up and grazed the bird's left flank. Somewhat destabilized, it flew up until they were safely hovering in a cloud.

Dripping wet, Maemi tried calming her breathing. Slowly, she loosened the hold on her wrists and felt blood flow back to her tingly hands. She was, however, still too shaken to ask what the bloody hell they were fleeing from, not that she'd be able to comprehend the answer. Sai stoically remained in his position, as if he were about to dash forward. Before she could take another breath, something glinting out of the corner of her eyes cut through the cloud, bringing with it a snapping gust of wind.

The bird was thrown sideways, along with its riders, in a spiraling descent towards the forest. As Sai tried his best to stabilize the bird, he felt the arms around him vanish. He jerked his head around and grabbed Maemi's disappearing wrist from under the bird before she fell in a mortal plunge. He didn't have to hear her scream, one glance at her terror-stricken face was enough. She'd grabbed onto his hand with both of hers, clutching as tightly as she could all the while trying not to move and definitely not looking down. Although having her body dangling freely was probably the last life experience she'd ever want.

Sai gripped her wrist as tightly as he could but had to keep moving, being a sitting duck was like taunting death considering the attack used was faster than them. The bird flapped its wings and turned around, trying to put some distance between them and their attacker, but in an instant the effort was rendered futile. The air itself seemed cut in half, and in the brief moment where time seemed suspended, Sai felt the wrist slipping from his grasp both due to the leftover moisture and being yanked in two different directions. Whatever attack this jutsu was, it had been aimed carefully.

Maemi felt herself slipping, and redoubled her efforts to hang on, but in vain. A moment later, she was grabbing air. Air whipped around her noisily, her eyes still fixed on the bird, her arms reaching for unattainable safety. At the same time, Sai – holding on with one hand – quickly took out a scroll, opened it with his mouth, then grabbed a brush and quickly began drawing. Maemi really wanted to scream her lungs out, but couldn't. Her mind was blank, her insides petrified.

Eyes filled with tears from the streaming wind, she didn't notice the smaller shape appearing before diving under her. The small bird opened its wings and the sudden change in pressure made it rise quickly until Maemi fell on its back. Astounded and still speechless, she quickly grabbed the bird's neck tightly seeing as she definitely didn't want a repeat of this horrible experience. Meters above her, Sai watched his smaller creation catch her. Somewhat relieved, he pulled the scroll out of his mouth. However, the distraction left him wide open to an attack, which the enemy fully intended to exploit.

Before he could dodge, the same blade of wind cut through his bird, inches from Sai's midriff, before dissipating into a shimmer of chakra. The scroll and brush flew out of his hands as the lopsided bird fought to keep afloat. Unfortunately, with nearly half of it gone, it quickly dissipated into ink as Sai succumbed to gravity. Unlike Maemi, he had a plan for when he neared the forest so as to avoid dying on impact, yet- he didn't even get a chance to try it. As he neared Maemi's level, drawing her frightened eyes to him, he saw the enemy flying towards him, but a blow from the back surprised him. Frowning in pain, he glanced behind him and discerned moving air under this foe as well. They were both riding their jutsu.

Sai dropped below Maemi, getting closer to the grinning enemies. Before long, one jumped from his air wave and lunged at Sai, who drew his short sword and met the attack with a brief clashing of blades. Before he could retaliate, however, his opponent seemed to fly back to safety while the other attacked from below. Meanwhile, Maemi was watching a falling Sai shrink. Still clutching the bird's neck tightly, she regained her voice at the sight of the attackers diving and merging onto Sai with unreasonable speed. She couldn't see details of what happened, but she did see Sai's sword fall out of his hand and the way his body fell unrestrained. She was too high for her scream to reach him and too far to see the blood from his wounds.

Very soon, however, it became clear he was unconscious because the bird to which she was desperately clutching soon dissolved beneath her. And once again, Maemi found herself diving through the air without any safety nets. Sai's body had just brushed past the trees and disappeared beneath the canopy of branches. Tears from the constant wind and the fact that her death was imminent flew up her temples, her insides squirming uncomfortably until they turned to stone again. Her voice was stuck in her throat, frozen. Her body was very hard to control against the wind pressure and she felt herself being pushed here and there as she neared the forest.

All of a sudden, she could only see green. Greengreengreen! She snapped her eyes shut and held her breath for the imminent pain. Her body jolted and everything went black.

– – – –

The battles had dispersed here and there, the group from Konoha being outnumbered two to one. Sakura's punch fractured the earth and felled trees, yet her opponents kept dodging and stayed out of range, all the same, they didn't dare get closer. Shikamaru managed to bind one opponent into his Shadow Imitation Technique and used him to attack his comrade. Yamato was countering wind attacks with his wooden techniques but had some trouble getting through to his adversaries who constantly drove back his attacks. Kakashi, in a moment of respite, summoned his nin-dogs, who scattered after brief instructions. Naruto was, as usual, surrounded by many shadow clones and attacking en masse.

Yorikane charged Kakashi again, still grinning. "Don't be _too_ distracted, I'm sure we found them by now." He obviously relished having the upper hand. Kakashi frowned briefly and finally removed his forehead protector from his face, revealing his sharingan. "Don't think that will help you win this time," shot Yorikane, already disappearing in a gust of wind.

Kakashi kept on his guard, his sharingan following his foe's movements. However, his heart suddenly leaped in his throat and fear invaded his system. Disoriented at this foreign feeling, he clumsily dodged Yorikane's oncoming attack and retreated a bit further than necessary. A thought came to mind, but it was so absurd that he nearly brushed it off. Yet, Yorikane's earlier words floated back in his mind. Could Sai have been attacked? Even if that were true, where did this fear come from? His left arm throbbed, as if echoing a shadowy thought, leaving his suspicions growing unrelentingly.

If his arm was injured again after being healed by Sakura, then he was somehow sharing or experiencing whatever the girl from another world was feeling. In this case, extreme fear. A nearby rustle snapped him back to his battle as Yorikane's comrade shot out of a bush brandishing a sword. Flipping out of the way, Kakashi's landing was thrown off balance when what felt like a giant punch hit his midriff, making him slide off the branch he'd aimed for and catch himself lower than anticipated. Yorikane gave him no time to reposition himself and attacked, his fist punching a wall of wind forward.

The battles dragged on, one side refusing to lose and the other refusing to run.

– – – –

Maemi was flying through the air, an exhilarating thrill, until- wait, no, she was falling! Falling until she could see nothing but the approaching trees. She took a deep breath and smiled sleepily. What a horrible dream, and so long too! She'd never had such a vivid dream before, especially that last terrifying moment. She tried to remember what falling dreams were supposed to indicate, but she couldn't think of anything at all. _Oh well, I can just look it up once I get out of bed._ With that thought, she rolled on her side and cringed as she opened her eyes.

It was dark, even with the fire glowing in the middle of the- room? Frowning, Maemi tried sitting up, only to feel pain shooting from her ribs to her hips, as if she had a giant bruise over her midriff. She muttered an "ow-" while pushing through the pain to sit up completely. She meant to brush her hair back when she noticed the metal cuff around her right wrist. How she hadn't noticed it before she didn't know, but she stared at it as if it was an alien weapon. Becoming slightly frantic, she took a long sweeping look around and concluded she was in some sort of cave, which was presently deserted.

Her eyes widened when she saw Sai a few meters away from her, cuffed against the wall and unable to move. She was about to call him when she noticed his wounds and the large amount of blood on his clothes. He also seemed paler than before. She crawled forward on her hands and knees until her right shoulder felt like it was going to be ripped from her body, but she still couldn't reach him. Voices made her jump and she inched backwards until her back met the cold wall.

"Well look who's awake," boomed a low baritone voice. A rough looking man advanced towards her imposingly. He had black unkempt hair and a similar face – he clearly hadn't shaved in a while. His clothes were mainly dark gray, but they looked somewhat old and a bit ragged. It seemed like everyone in this world had a pouch and a holster on them, and he was no exception: he wore one on his belt and the other around his leg. He crouched in front of Maemi and grinned broadly, even more so when he noticed her staring at his scars. "Ugly aren't they?" he chuckled. Maemi stopped herself short from nodding and instead opted for a poker face.

"Sotan," called another voice.

The rough man simply looked over his shoulder, "What?"

"Don't play with the prisoner."

Maemi couldn't see him very well mainly because he was standing too far and away from the light. She could faintly see his hair giving off a reddish glow, but she didn't have the luxury to worry about hair color. He seemed to have authority, meaning he was some kind of boss, and he'd just called her a prisoner. She could have guessed as much, she was chained up after all, but the absurdity of the situation was beyond her wildest imagination.

The rough man scoffed and got up to settle by the fire instead, mumbling to himself about discrimination. Maemi stared at the six people filling the cave. She didn't know who they were, but five of them wore similar clothes to the first group she encountered, except the one called Sotan. The shine of their metal headband caught her eyes and she stared at one as much as she could. She could make out some sort of symbol on it, though its meaning was lost to her. She could only tell it oddly resembled a fat 'i.' Anxiously, she waited. She didn't know for what, but she tried getting a grip on herself. Being afraid would do nothing for her, and she could hardly get away. The fear would dim, yet it wouldn't disappear.

After a while of being ignored, she glanced at Sai out of the corner of her eyes. His breathing looked shallow, but at least he was alive. She wished she could get closer to him and wake him up, maybe he'd give her another smile. Even though it wouldn't exactly be reassuring, it would be somewhat comforting, but as it was, she felt so alone.

"Worried?" said a voice just above her.

Nearly jumping out of her skin, she glanced up and saw the man with reddish hair. He looked young and strong, but the exposed parts of his skin bore a few scars. Looking down again, she turned her head sideways, deciding not to answer. Regardless of her attitude, she knew she could be killed in a heartbeat, the fact that she was alive meant they had some use for her. At this very moment, her stomach decided it was a good time to demand food and began growling. Flushing bright red, she kept her stare on her hand, as if she'd never seen it before. "Hmph." She didn't see the man's smirk as he walked away.

Her stomach continued growling for the next hour, making her want to crawl into a corner or hide in the wall. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't eaten since- before the graduation ceremony, however long ago that was. She'd only had a cup of water since coming to this world, and one of her terrifying experiences would be enough to keep her hungry for a week. Resigned, she tucked her feet under her, leaned against the wall and kept one arm around her midriff, as if it would quiet her stomach. Her body was still sore for whatever reason, maybe crashing through the trees? No matter how much she tried to remember, how she was alive remained a mystery.

A voice shook her out of her thoughts again, "Here." It was the same guy, and he was holding a bowl of steaming food. Maemi glanced at it briefly at first, then stared a bit longer, gauging whether to take it or not. "Just take it," sighed the guy, as if already fed up with her. She _was_ hungry, and they wouldn't poison her, that wouldn't make any sense at all. Keeping a straight face, Maemi grabbed the bowl with both hands, knowing she'd probably drop it if she grabbed it with her left hand alone.

She resumed her position with her side facing her captors, as if not seeing them somehow made her situation better. The food smelled good, she'd only inhaled two breaths but she already felt like she was eating. Putting the bowl on her knees, she ate a couple of spoonfuls. Only then did she realize the man had gone again. It was getting really annoying not to be able to hear them coming and going. "Stupid ninja world," she muttered, "Stupid plushie." Her spoon clattered against the bowl, her eyes widening in realization. The plushie! Where had it gone!?

Sotan turned towards her when her spoon clattered. "Not to your taste?" he taunted with a grin. Maemi ignored him and picked up the spoon again, only to let it drop again with a grunt. Slowly, she looked at her abdomen from where sharp pain emanated. She felt herself shaking and distantly heard the bowl roll off her knees, spilling food on the floor, but all she cared about was knowing where this pain came from. It almost felt like she'd just been stabbed, but she couldn't be sure, she'd never been stabbed, after all. Her left hand gently probed her abdomen, which somehow became stained red.

Now gasping to breathe and cringing for doing so, she felt whatever strength she had flowing out of her. "Hey," frowned Sotan, "she's acting weird." The others dismissed him, until they heard her slump on the floor and saw her body twitching. The man with the reddish hair kneeled at her side, frowning at the sight of blood that wasn't there five minutes ago. He ripped the fabric above the wound to see a gushing stab wound.


	5. Defensive play

I don't actually know how many people make it this far... But if you did, congrazzles! You might have noticed I'm still terrible at titles (maybe I should stop). Enter new characters! A bunch of them!

Unfortunately for you guys, I'm leaving tomorrow for about two weeks (updates not guaranteed), and I have two more chapters planned out. The rest I gotta write... Eek!

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 5: Defensive play**

Sai awoke at the sound of nearby shouting voices. He realized at once his situation, especially when he tried to move his arms, which felt like lead and refused to budge. He focused his attention on the commotion and noticed the girl's bare feet, yet frowned when he saw them twitching weakly. The voices quieted down when a man with reddish hair stood up, an indescribable look on his face. "Tsk," he turned his back on Maemi, "She'll die within the hour."

"What a waste..." mumbled a man clad in lightly colored clothes as he kicked the remains of a blanket over most of the girl's twitching body. "Wouldn't have grabbed her if she was going to die anyway."

Sai focused on that one, staring until he recognized one of his attackers, who could somehow ride his wind waves. His attention shifted back to the bleeding girl. They weren't going to help her? What was the point in getting her in the first place then? He could hardly see the advantage in keeping them as bargaining chips, the village didn't value their lives as much as the village's and its residents' safety. He somehow had to find a way out of these restraints and escape, but he was weak, and largely outnumbered.

"Don't complain Shigeko, you had some fun hunting them," replied their boss.

The one called Shigeko shrugged, "A short hunt, if you ask me Yasuhide..." he replied somewhat quietly.

"Be quiet," said Yasuhide, standing next to the fire. "They should be back soon. Get ready." The men did as asked then settled somewhere as the shadows danced on the wall; time passed slowly. Sai struggled to keep his eyes open all the while listening for the girl's breath and the moment it would stop. Maemi's breath was strained, brief and punctuated with grunts which grew quieter over time. More than an hour passed by the time Yorikane and the rest of his wounded comrades appeared at the entrance of the cave.

Yasuhide kneeled in front of his leader while asking for news. "It was better than expected," smirked a tired Yorikane. Yasuhide's eyes glanced at the people behind his leader.

"We lost four?"

Yorikane's expression hardened. "They still failed me in the end." The newcomers settled around the cave as their leader walked towards the prisoners, glancing appreciatively at Sai. "Oh? I'm surprised you kept him alive."

Yasuhide nodded once, "Rather- he didn't die from Shigeko's and Kokan's attacks, so we took him as well. All for the better, as the other just died."

At those news, Yorikane's angry face swiveled towards his underling. "What!? What do you mean? I thought I told you she was a piece of my plan!"

"Unfortunately- she somehow suffered a wound... and we don't have the resources to spare even for the prisoners," replied Yasuhide with a cool head. "The other will do just as well." But Yorikane was no longer listening, when a mysterious wound was mentioned he stepped closer to the motionless covered body. His face held an unreadable expression, one mixed between furor and anticipation. In one swift movement, he yanked the blanket off and stared at the gaping wound in the girl's abdomen.

The cave had grown eerily quiet, but Yorikane, mumbling to himself, kneeled and examined the wound. His face slowly split in a mad grin. Without warning, he erupted in a thunderous laughter. Yasuhide and the rest of the men blinked in confusion, how could a dead body be of any use? "Ooh, Kakashi, you're mine now," chuckled Yorikane, clenching his fists in anticipation.

Yasuhide glanced at the body and held back a gasp, she was still _breathing_!? There was no way someone with her level of chakra could survive with such a severe wound, let alone the blood loss! What kind of forbidden technique was this? But before he could ask any unwelcome questions, Yorikane had already gathered everyone around the fire and began explaining their next move.

– – – –

"I don't understand how they knew..." mumbled Shikamaru, knotting his makeshift bandage. "The plan was foolproof."

Yamato gave him a smile, "Don't beat yourself up, Shikamaru. No matter how much you plan for, there'll always be something you didn't count on. Sometimes, you just have to plan for the unexpected. Besides, the best of us make mistakes sometimes." He glanced at Sakura who was leaning over a wounded Kakashi, her body and face tense with concentration. She'd been treating that wound for too long, yet it was barely healing! "Sakura..."

"Just a bit longer-..." she replied drowsily, frowning so as not to let her attention waver.

"Sakura. You're exhausted, and nearly out of chakra. You need some rest!" scolded Yamato while Naruto nodded in fervent agreement.

"But-"

"I'm fine," cut in Kakashi, giving her one of his encouraging smiles. "You've done your best, I won't die from this." Sakura glanced at the group and gave in with a sigh.

She settled across from Kakashi, somewhat next to Shikamaru, "Just for a while," she mumbled before closing her eyes and dozing off quickly.

Naruto took the first lookout round, leaving Shikamaru to study his scroll attentively, try to find the flaw and come up with better alternatives. Yamato sat next to Kakashi, glancing at his wound. "Something you're not telling us?"

"..." His slight frown and silence was answer enough to Yamato.

"As I thought," sighed Yamato, "It wouldn't be related to the girl, would it?"

Kakashi debated this for a moment before responding. "While I do have a few theories, each as unlikely as the next, engaging in speculation won't help us find them." At the same time, four nin-dogs landed around the pair of jounin. Shiba held the mini-sized doll in his mouth, Guruko had Sai's short sword, Akino held a brush and the remnants of a ripped scroll while Pakkun just sat there, looking glum. (1)

"Aren't those Sai's?" asked Yamato, reaching for the brush and the scroll. Guruko dropped the short sword near Kakashi's hand. He frowned and glanced at Pakkun, as if waiting for details.

The nin-dog stopped staring at Kakashi's wound to look at his face. "Besides these things," he motioned to the objects with one paw, "there were no traces of them. Except for where they landed." He paused just as Naruto jumped down and landed behind him. "It wasn't a pretty sight, Kakashi. There was a lot of blood."

"What, have you found Sai?" cut in Naruto, eager to go help his friend.

Yamato held up a hand, "Hold on. Let him finish."

"Frankly, it's as if they vanished, despite the trail you'd expect from their wounds..." continued Pakkun.

"Isn't Yorikane a missing-nin from the Sand village?" jumped in Shikamaru, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Aren't they pretty decent wind-element users?"

"Which is why Bull, Urushi, Ūhei and Bisuke are still looking for their whereabouts, I'd expect them back pretty soon," finished Pakkun.

Sakura opened her eyes, slowly registering that the voices she'd heard weren't from her dream. She got up and stretched, yet just as she was about to ask about any updates, a loud voice boomed over the forest, startling animals and their group alike.

"Hatake Kakashi," greeted the nearly ecstatic voice of their foe, "You have one hour to appear before me, _alone_." The voice paused. "If you're even a second late, I'll kill you on the spot." Yorikane's voice shook with barely contained excitement.

The group kept still, wondering if they'd already been found or were being watched, but there were no movements, no concealed presences or murderous intents. Naruto was the first to break the silence, "How could he kill you if you're not there?"

As if to answer this precise question, the voice boomed louder. "You can't escape me, Kakashi. I'll kill you as easily as _this_."

A second barely passed, everyone tensed and looked around to see from where the attack would come. Nothing moved, yet there was a loud CRACK before Kakashi muffled a short scream, his right hand tightly gripping above his now broken left wrist.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura hurriedly kneeled beside him to examine his wrist.

Shock and worry flitted across her face, "I- I don't understand..." she looked up, meeting the disturbed gazes around them. "It's broken."

– – – –

Yasuhide undid the voice projection jutsu, yet Yorikane was still grinning. He looked at the broken wrist in his grasp, as if remembering about the body attached to it, and casually tossed it aside. Maemi's body barely twitched as her arm hit the ground. "And now we wait," added Yorikane with a chuckle before anyone could even ask.

From their position atop this platform overlooking the forest, they could see any incoming attack if Kakashi even dared to try and take the offensive in his situation. They clearly had the advantage for a counterattack, so a frontal assault would be unlikely, yet amusing.

"Why did you leave the other one in the hideout?" inquired a bored Shigeko, examining the tip of a kunai.

"Because he'd be too much trouble if he tried anything. He's much better kept away, as a safeguard," mundanely replied Yorikane, as if talking about his lunch preference. He returned to staring at his watch, counting the minutes left.

Time ticked by slowly.

– – – –

"You can't seriously be thinking of going!" protested Sakura, "Your wounds are nowhere near healed and now with that wrist-!" There was no need to tell him he couldn't perform even the basic jutsu.

Kakashi sighed then cringed as he got up. "Sakura- I know the risks. Believe me, going isn't my first choice, but if I don't-" The implications were clear, he'd get killed, and so would Sai and Maemi.

Naruto opened his mouth but Shikamaru shook his head, "Don't even think about it. You're not going to be able, no matter how many shadow clones you have, to get past all of them in a timely manner to grab Sai and the girl. And that's assuming they're all in one place."

The blond made a determined face, about to retort, but Yamato shook his head. "He's right Naruto, as soon as you're spotted, he could kill Kakashi in an instant. Though how-"

"We won't solve this by sitting here," interrupted Kakashi, concealing a wince. "I'll go buy some time. Yamato-"

Yamato nodded and was explaining their next moves when they found themselves surrounded by six shinobi. Naruto's frown disappeared once he glimpsed red hair and a giant gourd. "Gaara!"

– – – –

The fresh crackling of wood awoke Sai from the subtle waters of unconsciousness he had tread, unaware. Lifting his head from his chest, he glanced around the empty cavern through a hazy vision. Empty? Not quite. There was a lone figure on the opposite wall, so still it could be mistaken as being a part of its surroundings had Sai not seen its eyes land on him when he moved.

The silence was heavy, almost as heavy as his dead weight arms. The figure didn't move. Sai glanced at his restraints quickly enough to ascertain they were uncommon, and most certainly unbreakable as they were made from stone yet seemed to imperceptibly meld into the cavern's walls. "Your handiwork?" asked Sai, his usual smile plastered on his face.

"Hah, so you _have_ noticed," replied the figure with a wide grin, his scars glistening a pale yellow.

Sai kept his smile. "But what would a missing-nin from Iwagakure do among Sunagakure outlaws?"

Sotan budged, resulting in a dark shadow above him, but remained silent. "Interesting," commented Sai, which only made Sotan glare at him. "I doubt you joined them because of shared views, but judging from your scars and the fact they left you behind, perhaps-"

"Shut up!" bellowed Sotan, his imposing figure rising to its full height of 189 centimeters. His baritone voice echoed once across the cavern, his anger clearly visible.

Sai let the voice die down before picking right back up, "Perhaps you joined the first group you encountered, because you much prefer obey orders than decide your own. Otherwise, there'd be no point in keeping such a valuable asset to guard a mere prisoner."

Sotan stomped forward menacingly, until he stood right in front of Sai, who, despite his wounds and inability to move, kept smiling. "You'll regret this. I'm going to enjoy ripping that smile off your face," promised Sotan, cracking his knuckles one at a time.

– – – –

"What are you doing here?" asked Naruto, glancing at the three other shinobi behind Temari and Kankurou.

Gaara took a few steps forward, his green eyes taking in his allies' condition, before answering. "We've been trailing a group of missing-nin for a few days. I assume you're familiar with their leader."

"Tanuma Yorikane."

Gaara nodded, "Indeed. Ever since a few Konoha jounin helped us deal with the majority of the extremists, it seems he's gone above and beyond his previous capability to recruit other shinobi to his 'cause.' He seems to particularly hold a grudge against you, Kakashi."

"Yes... Seems he didn't appreciate having his moves copied, or being trapped in an illusion," replied Kakashi in an even, yet tense tone.

"Not to mention we killed over half of his men during that time," added Gaara.

Yamato and Shikamaru had a somber look, Sakura kept close to Kakashi as if expecting him to give in to the pain any second, and Naruto just had a very determined look. "So we'll stop him for sure this time!" he pledged with an overconfident grin.

Gaara's face briefly lit up with the shadow of a smile. "I had a feeling you'd say that," he replied and motioned for the jounin – Temari, Kankuro, Otokaze, Isago and Sasetsu (1)– to come closer. As he was detailing his plan, which Shikamaru improved along the way, the rest of Kakashi's nin-dogs came back. He turned to them expectantly.

"We found Sai's location," reported Bull.

Kakashi slightly frowned. "And the girl?" Bull shook his head twice. Then she was with Yorikane. Nodding, he started "Great. Shikamaru-" But Shikamaru was already two steps ahead of him and revised their plan. He went over it one more time, to be clear what everyone had to do, especially Naruto who needed to learn to control his hotheadedness.

Sakura checked a watch, "Thirteen minutes left." And they dispersed.

– – – – – – – –

(1) Check out Naruto's wiki if you haven't already (naruto dot wikia dot com) it's quite helpful to put names to faces.


	6. Time's up

I'm back! Missed me? ;) Enjoy this update, as the rest might take longer (given I only have the next chapter ready, and the rest... I gotta write, eek!)

Short chapter alert! But hopefully not disappointing...

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**Chapter 6: Time's up**

Yorikane began pacing, clutching a watch tightly. Seven minutes left. Would he come show his face and face his death, or attempt to run like a coward? It was so tempting to kill the girl now, and if Kakashi was still alive, all the better! He twirled a kunai in his free hand, edging towards the unmoving body. Suddenly, he noticed someone approaching.

Kakashi emerged from the forest's edge. "I came." His voice sounded strained, as if the trip here exhausted the last of his strength. Yorikane, attempting to contain a victorious grin, stared down at the Copy Ninja, and was glad to see the sword wound inflicted earlier hadn't been healed. The result stood below him, in such a weakened state. Yet, he had to remain vigilant, this was Hatake Kakashi after all. Surely, he had a plan or two up his sleeves.

Yorikane motioned over his shoulder. Shigeko sent a Powerful Wind Wave which Kakashi could barely avoid with his injuries, resulting in his capture by Yasuhide's cloth binding technique. Wincing, Kakashi looked up at the grinning Yorikane, "I came, so will you let them go?" He tried to sound convincing, not imploring.

"I'm afraid..." drawled Yorikane, "the answer's **no**." He wore a sadistic smile. Then, turning to Yasuhide, he mumbled "Tear a few limbs off."

Obeying orders, Yasuhide's cloth began pulling on Kakashi's left arm, aiming to rip it right out of its socket. The arm gave to the pressure and tore off, but instead of the expected cry of pain, Kakashi seemed to melt through the binding cloth. His skin turned brown, and was soon nothing but a pile of sand. Yorikane and Yasuhide both wore a shocked expression, which anger soon replaced. "Gaara," uttered Yorikane, grinding his teeth.

As if summoned, the Kazekage appeared on a carpet of sand, floating at eye level with Yorikane. At the same time, Temari, Kankurou, Yamato, Shikamaru, Otokaze and Sasetsu jumped out of hiding and attacked the missing-nin, who seemed more than eager to retaliate. Gaara didn't move, but sent his sand dashing forward, quickly attacking Yorikane, who wasted no time in counterattacking.

Meanwhile, Naruto, Sakura and Isago followed Bull and Urushi to retrieve Sai. The nin-dogs stopped at the edge of a canyon where Ūhei and Bisuke were waiting for them, staring at the river below. "Huh? I don't see him," blurted out Naruto, squinting to see if he missed anything.

"His scent stopped here, but it's quite strong against the other side, as if mixed in _with_ the rocks," said Urushi.

Isago frowned, "Shinobi from Sunagakure rarely exhibit extensive Earth affinities as to manipulate the side of a cliff so naturally."

"In other words," cut in Sakura, "you're saying whoever's inside is no Sunagakure missing-nin." Isago nodded gravely. Smirking, Sakura readjusted her gloves. "Let's find out how solid that rock is." And after getting a quick estimate as to where the mouth of the cave was, she dashed towards it and delivered a powerful yet controlled blow against the face of the mountain.

The relatively smooth base of the mountain fragmented as Sakura's chakra crushed rock, effectively revealing the outline of the cavern's entrance. Naruto and Isago covered her as she leaped over the debris and rushed inside, fists ready. There was a faint trace of smoke in the air, and they saw the fire about to die. Someone grunting brought their attention to the far wall, half cast in shadow. Sakura held in a gasp.

The grunting came from a shinobi dressed in dark clothes. One of his arms was apparently broken, his forehead protector askew and his face bore evidence of a recent brawl. He was losing vigor in his current fight against Sai's legs, which continued to choke the air out of him until his breath stopped. Isago leaped forward as the unrestrained body fell backwards onto Sai, whose remaining strength dissolved instantly. Grabbing the Iwagakure missing-nin, Isago broke his neck before Naruto or Sakura could object.

The results were two fold. Sai's restraints crumbled, allowing his arms to drop, just as the cavern seemed to buckle on itself. Naruto, unused to this ruthlessness in battle, clenched his fists in anger before darting over and grabbing Isago by the neck, ignoring the crumbling walls. "Why'd you have to kill him!?"

"If he hadn't- I would have," answered Sai. Naruto turned his angered stare on his friend, taking in his injuries and turned his back on Isago.

"Hurry up!" yelled Sakura just as the cavern rumbled dangerously. She'd made her way to the entrance, breaking up rocks about to entrap them. Isago and Naruto grabbed Sai by the arms, eliciting a muffled cry of pain, before fleeing towards the shrinking entrance. The dust had barely cleared, but Urushi and Bull were pulling at Naruto's leg, somewhat trapped under the collapsed rocks. Coughing dust out of her face, Sakura looked around. "Naruto!"

Quickly, she helped by lifting rocks off her friend's leg. "Sorry, Sakura-chan." He briefly chuckled in apology. "How's Sai?" he asked, pushing himself up abruptly.

Isago carefully laid Sai – whose face seemed to be getting paler by the minute – on his back and stepped away, allowing Sakura to kneel next to him. Quickly, she assessed the extent of his injuries and clenched her teeth. "Not good- he's lost too much blood. I don't have enough chakra to heal him, but if we don't-"

Isago dug in his pouch and offered her two black pills. "Military rations pill, we didn't bring any medical-nin with us, this is the best I can do." Sakura briefly contemplated the pills before her, picked one up and ingested it. A few minutes later, she could feel her chakra level rising and went back to examining Sai in greater detail.

Naruto limped and sat near Sai, yet out of Sakura's way, asking about his condition. "He has too many deep wounds." Isago stared at one in particular, recognizing the clean cut only a wind based jutsu could inflict. Sakura removed a kunai from Sai's thigh, a fresher wound, probably from his fight with the shinobi in the cavern. Hands glowing green, she focused on the deepest wound, her face scrunched up in concentration.

Sai didn't look good. He kept drifting in and out of consciousness, breathing irregularly and painfully. She had to work fast, maybe a few minutes on each injury rather than one at a time to reduce his blood loss. Naruto was unusually quiet, and Sakura could tell if he could walk, he'd probably be making his way back to the other group. As it was, though, he'd be better off waiting until she finished healing Sai, and that was _if_ they needed the help.

"I can't just sit here and do nothing," said Naruto, his voice betraying his exasperation. And in no time, two shadow clones, accompanied by Ūhei and Bisuke, ran back to the other group to assess the situation.

Back at the edge of the forest, the missing-nin were increasingly losing ground. Faced with new opponents and a varied range of attacks, the outlaws found themselves being pushed back. Slowly, they began making careless mistakes, proof to their attackers that their strategy was quite effective. Jutsu kept clashing against other as rapid blurs slowed to visible jumps. Yorikane, still fighting the Kazekage, fumed. The appearance of Sunagakure shinobi was quite an unexpected turn of events and his plans. He knew his attacks did little damage, if any, to his formidable opponent, but he could hardly be a sitting target from the inescapable pursuing sand.

It was only by pure coincidence, dodging an oncoming barrage of sand, he noticed the girl disappear in a sandy cocoon. Enraged, he sent a dozen exploding kunai as a last attempt to be rid of his target, who was nowhere in sight. The protective cocoon intercepted the kunai, quickly swallowing them in tight balls of hardened sand to block the ensuing explosions. Before Gaara's sand could successfully trap him, Yorikane countered with a slicing gust of wind, which merely broke the sand apart but bought him enough time to send a volley of shuriken to one end of the cocoon as he closed the distance between them.

His hands formed seals too fast for the normal eye to see, and as he landed near the sand protection, his attack was ready. Taking a deep breath, he propelled five small bursts of air in rapid succession, watching them gain speed the more he infused chakra into them. The sand was busy blocking the shuriken, and immediately Gaara realized that, once more, someone exploited the sand's protection for a careful attack. Unfortunately, his reaction was too late. The air bullets shot through the thinner part of the cocoon.


	7. Aftermath

And I'm back, boom baby! This chapter is slightly longer, hopefully it amends for the cliffhanger I left you dangling from...

Also, reviews make me soo happy (and productive, apparently). Thank you lots and have freshly baked brownies! :D

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 7: Aftermath**

Maemi heard a faint thumping. She couldn't help but wonder what the neighbors were up to at this ungodly hour. She'd have to remember to give them a piece of her mind once she got out of bed. Pain. Hold on... She was in too much pain to be at home. Her abdomen echoed her thoughts with painful throbs. Was the anesthesia wearing off? Yet she couldn't feel the wrist with the IV drip. Cold. These hospital gowns really didn't keep the warmth. She also couldn't remember how much blood they'd taken earlier for tests, but she sure felt woozy. Even lying down she internally swayed.

How did she end up here in the first place? Her groggy mind provided only tidbits of information. Like how Tsune had waved her diploma over the handrail teasingly, how much her head hurt after tumbling down the stairs, and throwing up in the process. The feeling of the cold neck-brace and her back on a stretcher, the pain of an injection in her arm. She dreamed of falling, and woke up with a tube down her throat because she couldn't breathe. Then she dreamed of flying, but fell again and found herself in a dark, scary place until pain erupted in her abdomen. Appendicitis they'd said. But why was she waking up halfway through the surgery?

Slowly, Maemi forced her eyes open. Instead of the expected bright light, she saw nothing. She blinked, yet darkness prevailed. _Huhn?_ Her left arm, bent uncomfortably with her hand at face level, gave a short spasm, bringing with it a strangled yelp of pain. Taking a quick breath, Maemi decided it would be best not to move it. Her right hand reached out, touching and feeling anything and everything below it, trying to 'see.' The wall beneath her fingers was somewhat smooth, yet hard. She scraped it lightly, feeling the grit accumulate under her nails. There was a faint earthly smell... Dirt?

Horror and terror squeezed her heart. _I- Am I- buried alive!?_ Her right hand now slammed weakly against the side, crawling up towards her face. Perhaps trying to find which part was closer to the surface, perhaps trying to alert someone she was down here! She was tired though, her energy waning despite the rush of adrenaline and survival instincts. Then, as her hand neared her face, she heard a noise. It seemed to hit the dirt near her; a second one followed, then a third. Hope trickled in once the wall gave and light poured in, yet quickly evaporated.

The air shimmered where her prison had been broken, and it was coming right at her. Instincts took over. She saw her hand move, blocking her face, before blood splattered over her. Her hand dropped, and even though she could hardly see the second bullet – just a faint, quick shimmer in the air – her head was already turning right as it hit her. Blood splattered on the walls behind her as her head dropped on her shoulder.

– – – –

Yorikane smirked victoriously at the blood. Gaara's sand wound itself around his feet in a blink, preventing him from moving. Rapidly, his body became immobilized as the sand encased him, but his maddening smirk remained. He began laughing loudly, throwing his head back even as the sand covered him. "_Finally!_" he gleefully shouted in between bouts of laughter, "After all these years," he drawled, his eyes gleaming with pride, "the great Hatake Kakashi is no more!"

At the same time, Yasuhide – whose fight against Kankurou kept him quite occupied – at once noticed his leader's capture and hesitated between going to help, or retaliating. This slight pause gave Kankurou the chance he'd been waiting for and fired Karasu's hidden smoke bomb, which exploded in a hiss of poisonous gas. Yasuhide reacted too late, his movements slowed and, as the smoke cleared, he was unable to deflect or dodge the hidden blades that pierced their way through vital organs.

His cloth floated to the ground, his eyes staring blankly at his fearless leader. "Yorika-ne... sa...ma..." His body crumpled in a small puddle of blood; Kankurou drew in a heavy breath. He noticed the other fights were also winding down to their final moments. Temari had done quite well against Shigeko, another wind user, yet was now losing ground as Kokan joined him. Shikamaru followed the fight and backed her up, successfully leading Kokan into a trap and directing the next attack at Shigeko. Temari finished him off before the Shadow Imitation Technique wore off.

A flash of orange caught Shikamaru's eye. He lost no time in meeting Naruto, briefly glancing behind him. "The others?"

"All near the hideout, my leg's injured so he sent me instead," replied the shadow clone.

"Sai?"

Naruto's frown was enough. "Sakura's treating him." That's when he heard Yorikane's gleeful voice.

Although caught, Yorikane smirked right back at a glaring Gaara and didn't hesitate to taunt him. "You lose this round, I'm afra-" His face disappeared effortlessly in Gaara's sand.

"Imploding Sand Funeral!" Gaara's fist closed abruptly and the sand crushed Yorikane within, spilling his blood everywhere. Without as much as a second glance, the Kazekage looked down at the cocoon he had moved too late and floated beside it until firm land. He waited, unwilling to dissolve it and reveal the ultimate proof he'd failed his allies. Yet, Yorikane's attack was starkly visible, and it would prove less painful to admit his failure quickly and openly. Naruto arrived first with Ūhei and Bisuke, followed by Shikamaru, Temari and Kankurou. The top of the cocoon crumbled, the sand sifting back to his gourd.

As the other fights ended, Yamato, Otokaze and Sasetsu appeared next to their comrades, all worn-out from their recent battles. The sand gradually stopped, revealing a bloodier mess than any of them. A few pair of eyes widened, some jaws clenched. Gaara closed his eyes, his arms crossed on his chest so as to hide his balled up hands.

"Captain Yamato!" yelled a familiar voice. Yamato turned, his heart squeezing painfully, and faced two Naruto shadow clones carrying a bloody Kakashi, followed by Pakkun, Shiba, Guruko and Akino.

"What happened? They couldn't have found you, they were all here. How-?" The shadow clones landed near the group, and gently laid Kakashi on the ground.

"I don't know what happened. We were still hidden, no one was there, but all of a sudden his hand started bleeding- then his head and- he- he just..." trailed a shadow clone. Everyone stared at him in disbelief. If no one attacked, how could he suffer wounds?

At that point, the three shadow clones disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Sakura!" called a somewhat relieved Yamato. Sakura, holding up a limping Naruto, landed near them, Urushi and Bull went to the other nin-dogs, and Isago – carrying a bloody Sai on his back – landed behind Sakura. Shikamaru glanced at Sai questioningly.

"I closed the major wounds, his life isn't in danger," answered Sakura to the unasked question. Her face froze as her eyes settled on Kakashi's immobile figure, Pakkun near his side. "Wha- What happened!? I thought he was hiding!"

"Calm down Sakura, he's not dead," said Pakkun as Sakura kneeled next to Kakashi, heaving a sigh of relief. Of course he wasn't dead, he was alive and breathing. Though not for long, given the speed of his blood loss. Methodically, she checked the extent of his injuries. A stab wound to the abdomen, broken left wrist, pierced right hand, badly cut fingers on his left hand, and a long, somewhat deep cut from his chin to his ear. His torn, bloody mask somewhat obstructed her view but she most definitely saw his jaw bone.

"As Naruto explained, we weren't attacked. What I find strange," continued Pakkun, "is the similar state of the girl." Yamato frowned as he and Gaara looked into the remaining half of the sand cocoon, holding its content in place. The girl was a mess, her clothes torn and splattered in blood, a broken wrist dangling near her bloody face. She, too, was breathing small breaths, only proof she was still of this world. Sakura quickly looked over the girl and her injuries, her frown deepening.

"Not similar," she contradicted, turning to look at the Pakkun, "_identical_." Despite the mystery, she lost no time getting to work, they both needed immediate attention, and she was the only medical-nin here. How could she possibly heal two people at once? Yamato glanced at Kakashi, then back at the girl, a dark expression on his face. His eyes flitted to the doll in between Shiba's front paws.

Everyone wore a confused look. Gaara slowly undid the remaining part of the cocoon, gently putting the girl on the ground. "We'll check the area and make sure there are no survivors," he told his Konoha friends, and all six Sunagakure shinobi vanished quickly. Sakura, worried about a possible artery injury, was already healing Kakashi, her hands held above his left cheek. Naruto, still putting weight on his uninjured leg, gasped as the cut closed extremely slowly.

"Sakura-chan-!"

"Not now Naruto, I need to concentrate," she brushed him off, annoyed at the slower rate of healing.

Shikamaru stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder. "No, Sakura, look." He pointed at the girl just as Akino pushed her head towards them. The cut on her face was closing slowly, at the same rate as Kakashi's. Sakura's eyes widened in shock. Everyone stared in disbelief.

"That would certainly... explain- a lot," said Yamato, remembering Kakashi's somewhat disturbed gaze from earlier, not to mention his stab wound. "Yet the how remains a mystery," he frowned.

Sai grunted, then jolted upright, his breath still somewhat short, his eyes wide and alert. It took him a minute to realize he was among friends. "How are you feeling?" asked Yamato with a brief smile. Sai nodded, looking around until he stopped on Kakashi's and Maemi's unmoving figures, noting Sakura's glowing hands. "What happened?" inquired Yamato, his expression now serious.

Sai described the attack, his opponents, the hideout and as many details as he could recall. Yamato listened attentively, trying to put pieces together. "A good thing they found you when they did," he nodded as Sai finished depicting his fight with the Iwagakure missing-nin in the hideout. Yamato gave one strong pat on Sai's shoulder and stood up again, just as the Sunagakure shinobi returned.

Kankuro and Temari did one last check around their current position. "We're clear."

Gaara stepped forward then locked eyes with Yamato. "I sent for some medical-nin, they should arrive within a day."

"Thank you." (1) Yamato sat near Gaara to talk strategy. It wasn't long before Shikamaru joined them.

"Are you discussing our trip to Sunagakure?" He saw their glance and shrugged, "It's the most feasible option right now. Two severely wounded, one recuperating and the rest of us aren't exactly in great shape."

"That's true..." sighed Yamato, "This whole mess really threw us off our return path. Sunagakure might only be a day closer, but..."

"In your condition, it's the best option," agreed Gaara.

Yamato acquiesced. "Let's go about setting up camp then."

"Are you really in condition to give us a mansion for the night?" inquired Shikamaru, leaning comfortably against a tree. "You know we're fine with just a camp fire right?"

The house standing in front of him shut him up. It wasn't as big as the previous one, but it was still elaborate and more than big enough for them all. "Divide everyone up, will you?"

"Ch. How troublesome..." But off he went, assigning everyone a room. Eventually, he had to convince Sakura to take a short break, both for her sake and so they could move Kakashi and the girl inside as well. Nobody bothered to wake Sakura up after her self-proclaimed half hour limit passed. They preferred dealing with her wrath than seeing her pass out from exhaustion.

Everybody heard when she finally woke, a mere three hours later, filling the house with a string of profanities. The following abnormal sounds had Yamato relieved he wasn't anywhere in her vicinity. When he went to check on her, and her patients, an hour later he found her taking a short break.

"You've healed most of the wounds?" He sounded more surprised than he intended, but sighed when she gave him her sheepish smile. "Honestly, like teacher like student."

"I only have the bruises, scrapes and outer part of the healing left."

"And the stab wound."

Sakura sighed. "Yes. It's so deep, and heals slower than usual, I made sure the blood loss was minimal to work on it last."

"If that's the case, you should rest some more. There are more medical-nin on the way, you don't have to do everything by yourself."

"It's the last wound, I'm sure I can handle it."

"But you don't have to," cut in Shikamaru, seemingly appearing from the shadowy corner. "Besides, if you're unfit for travel tomorrow, just think how much of a bother you'll be to the rest of us."

Yamato intervened before Sakura's temper flared. "He's right you know. If you expand too much energy on this, you'll add to our travel time. Just- make sure there's no blood loss and call it a day."

"You're right... I'll work on their wound a bit and check on Sai."

– – – –

When Sakura came to, everything was dark. She waited until the moonlight filtering through the windows was enough to light her way and got up to find a snack and a drink. Only then did she realize she'd been moved to another room. Opposite of her, she could see Shikamaru and Naruto sleeping under blankets. She'd have to finish healing Naruto's leg in the morning, or find a way to shut his mouth the entire trip.

She left their room and saw light coming from under one door. If memory served, that was the room with Kakashi... She made to go there, but Gaara appeared out of nowhere, blocking her way.

"The medical-nin are working."

Sakura nearly sighed with relief. "Oh great, so they arrived. Maybe I could go lend a hand."

"No need."

"He has a point, Sakura." She turned to Yamato, intent on arguing. "You've done more than enough, and you still look like you'd benefit from sleep. It's only a couple more hours until sunrise, leave it to them."

"Fine. I don't like being in the way." She managed to silence her stomach and quench her thirst before going back to the room and settling into peaceful slumber.

– – – –

The next day was filled with activity, between organizing who carried what and debating the formations and route they should take. Sakura, who'd just finished healing Naruto's wound, had barely been able to check Kakashi's and Maemi's injuries before everyone was briefed. Departure followed soon after.

The pace was slower than usual, due to their rather large size and some concern as to their vulnerability, despite knowing Yorikane's group no longer posed a threat. The medical-nin were to be surrounded at all times. Three of them carried the injured: Kakashi and Maemi, both still unconscious, and Sai, whom despite being able-bodied remained too exhausted to keep up on his own.

After a long day of traveling, they put the Land of Wind border well behind them before taking their last break. Nobody said much, preserving energy while keeping an eye on the nearly dried out water supplies. They managed to keep an emergency ration in case a storm sneaked up on them, otherwise they'd be replenished in Sunagakure. On they went, cutting through the cool night.

When Sakura noticed a dark shape ahead, her first thought was of a mirage, but the current conditions weren't ideal for one. Her doubts were completely dispelled when she heard Temari mumble something, and all of sudden, a wave of relief washed over the group. Not too long after (it seemed), they made it through one of the entrances to the village.

A jounin dropped next to Gaara. "Welcome back, Kazekage-sama."

"Get some medical-nin and some rooms ready."

"Yes!" (2) He disappeared immediately.

The group slowed, their exhaustion catching up to their relief and soon overwhelming their urgency. They made it to the hospital 10 minutes later, and nearly everyone but Gaara and the medical-nin collapsed in chairs. It took a short amount of time to get people sorted out, thanks to the jounin's message, and in less than half an hour, everyone who needed a bed had one. Fluids were replenished, through IVs if necessary.

By the time the sun rose, no one was left standing, even Gaara indulged in leisurely sitting while he waited for the council to arrive to give them an update. A hell of a day had brought down a tangible threat to Sunagakure yet raised many more questions, notably how two people could bear the same injuries even when kilometers apart.

– – – – – – – –

I realize I haven't specified when in the actual story line this happens, but um, I don't think I will? ^^; _Mayyybe_ the very beginning of Shippuuden, but as of yet I don't intend to cover (extensively, if at all) anything that takes place in the manga. Sasuke's gone, Gaara's still awesome, moving on.

(1) It's super frustrating to have the Japanese responses running through my head but having crappy English equivalents... Rawr, translation!

(2) Same problem, different expression. The language speaker in me is really torn about this!


	8. Sunagakure

Reviews are trickling in and I'm sooo happy! Thank you so SO much for the warm and fuzzies! (Not to mention the giddiness!) Pretty sure I finished this after reading your comments, so I guess reviews are excellent motivators (along with chocolate, of course). Not like I'm procrastinating on going through my apartment because I'm moving in ten days noo, ha ha haa…

The reason I'm so late updating this is because I found an incongruity (or several!) and trying to fix it if possible (I'm the type who will go back and edit the chapter because- I must?), so if ever you find something I overlooked, let me know and I'll try to fix it! (More on that at the bottom...)

Also, I'm moving out in 2 days and freaking out about packing and such (timing being so bad with the post office and returning my internet D: ), so I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to update. Might be before mid-July, might be beginning of August if you're lucky (because by then, grad school will have officially started. In Sydney. Wheeeee!)

On that note, voilà!

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 8: Sunagakure**

Kakashi woke up disoriented, but comfortable. Judging by the room and his lack of wounds, he figured he was in a hospital. He sat up slowly, flexing and stretching his limbs and muscles as he went, checking there was no pain (there wasn't). He was putting on his mask when the door opened. A nurse stopped in her tracks and briefly stared at him, a bit of pink flushing her cheeks.

"I'll be right back." She closed the door behind her, leaving Kakashi alone, trying to remember what had happened.

A few minutes later, there was a brief knock on the door. Yamato, Sakura, and Naruto walked in just as Kakashi, sitting on the bed, finished putting on his flak jacket.

"Kakashi-sensei!" He smiled back at them, mostly listening to their chatter: how scared they'd been, how hard it'd been to heal him, how glad they were Yorikane was no longer a threat... The look on Yamato's face was distracting though, as if he was waiting to deliver bad news.

"What about Sai?"

Naruto stopped his battle recounting mid-exploit and glanced at Sakura. "He was badly injured... He's actually getting his last check up right now."

Something about her tone made him frown. "Did something happen?"

A brief anguished look crossed her face. "I-"

Yamato cut Sakura off. "He might limp for a while." She shot him a distressed look. "A certain someone is blaming herself for not doing more when she nearly exhausted herself doing her best."

"But I didn't! I just stopped the blood loss and because his wound wasn't treated until the Suna medics got there, and even they didn't heal it completely so there might be permanent damage and-"

"I'm sure you did what you could. Sai must know that too." Kakashi smiled at her.

"Yeah, don't worry Sakura-chan, he's in good hands." Naruto gave her his usual goofy smile and a thumbs up. Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat, too touched to say anything.

Yamato grabbed the only chair and sat on it, facing Kakashi. "What do you remember?"

The jounin sighed. "Not very much. Gaara and the others arrived, and Naruto's clones escorted me to a hiding place."

Everyone stared at him. "That's it?"

"Hey, hey, I was too injured to try anything else." The stares continued. "Honestly."

Naruto piped up. "That's true, he was with my clones the whole time."

"Oh boy..." Yamato sighed, momentarily discouraged.

A brief knock on the door interrupted the lull in conversation, and a nurse poked her head in. "Sakura-san, could you come with me a for a moment?" She nodded, excused herself and followed the nurse out.

Naruto, as oblivious as usual, missed his cue to leave. Yamato returned his gaze to Kakashi. "You mentioned a 'few theories' after your wrist mysteriously broke. Care to elaborate?"

Even with his mask obscuring half his face, Kakashi's grimace was evident. "Put plainly, it seems I share injuries with our newest companion."

Naruto blinked, then frowned in concentration. "Hmm, like, she takes half and you take half? Is she like a shadow clone?"

Both jounin turned to stare at him, which of course Naruto misinterpreted. "What? Isn't that how shadow clones work? But that's amazing Kakashi-sensei, you get to have a real version of a shadow clone! But how would it work if neither one of you can disappear..." And off he went, mumbling, trying to figure out how such an arrangement could exist.

Yamato and Kakashi glanced at each other and coughed to stop short the onset of laughter. "He's got an interesting theory..."

"Yes, except that's not it." Kakashi remembered being invaded by foreign feelings, completely unrelated to his situation. "I might share more than just physical injuries, but I'm not quite sure... Is she awake?" He hadn't even asked, but now that he thought of it, they probably would've mentioned something if she was.

"No, she's been sleeping like the dead since we got her back." Yamato proceeded to describe the battle with the last minute reinforcements and the blessed element of surprise. "Yorikane's last move was ultimately his downfall, but we all thought he'd succeeded. It was a mess. Then you showed up, just as bloody as her!"

Kakashi frowned, then nodded. "Sakura must've had a fit." He could just imagine her reaction.

Yamato laughed. "Don't tell her that, I'm telling you she worked nonstop on those ration pills. She would've killed herself healing everybody."

That seemed to jar Naruto out of theorizing and give him something new to think about. "Sensei, I'll see you later!" He jumped out the window.

The two jounin shook their heads at him. "At least some things don't change." Yamato shifted in the chair. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than yesterday."

Yamato looked amused. "That's not saying much. You were on the brink of death."

"I'm just tired, but I'll live."

Another knock interrupted the conversation. "Hi. I thought I'd drop by..."

"Sai!"

Sai walked in, leaning on a crutch, and gratefully accepted Yamato's offer to sit. He looked Sai over. "Sakura let you up?"

"Actually, I haven't seen her today. Apparently she's busy learning about Sunagakure's healing techniques and checking out their new medicinal herbs." His face adorned his usual smile.

"Yeah, I didn't think she'd let you walk around too much..."

"Well, the doctors said I should stretch my legs, then I heard Kakashi was awake, so I came."

Kakashi smiled at him. "How's your leg?"

Sai extended his left leg, rotated his ankle slowly, first to the right, then to the left. "I've had worse." His smile had thinned out.

"I'm sure Sakura will patch you up in no time, you know how she gets," said Kakashi. Sai nodded, his smile returning. "Where are you staying?" Kakashi turned to look at Yamato, hoping he wouldn't have to stay in the hospital another night.

"Temari set us up in an apartment, there's more than enough room for you."

"I'd appreciate that," nodded Kakashi in thanks. "We should probably set up a meeting and discuss our situation."

"I'd accompany you, but I believe I'm expected to stay here for a while longer," added Sai, standing up.

Kakashi walked to the door, holding it open. "Where's your room? I'll come visit." Sai smiled and walked, slowly, down the hallway to his room. It was much the same as Kakashi's, bland and empty apart from his few recovered possessions – notably his short sword, brush, and scrolls.

"I'll bring you a book next time," said Yamato. Sai thanked them, and excused himself, leaving the two jounin alone. They rounded the stairs, and nearly walked into Temari.

"Oh good, you're awake. Follow me." She turned right back around and led them out of the hospital and through Sunagakure to the Kazekage's office. They arrived in front of double doors and saw Kankurou and Shikamaru leaning against the wall, apparently waiting.

"Shikamaru, Kankurou," greeted the new arrivals.

"Wow, he sure looks a lot better!"

Shikamaru shot Kankurou a half lazy, half dumbfounded look before rolling his eyes. What tact. "What, no escort?" Shikamaru thought for sure Sakura would be here.

Yamato shook his head, "Nah, she's probably trying to learn every known jutsu or possible remedy for Sai's leg." Shikamaru could say nothing to that, except that it described Sakura to a T.

The double doors opened soon enough, letting out a few Counselors discussing amongst themselves. Temari and Kankurou went in first, then waved the Konoha shinobi in before shutting the doors behind them. Gaara was at his desk, filing leftover papers.

"Take a seat." He gestured to the bench on the left side of the room. Kakashi gratefully sat down, while Yamato and Shikamaru remained standing, facing Temari and Kankurou, who stood slightly behind the desk, to the Kazekage's right. "I've informed the Council of the demise of Tanuma Yorikane. They were most grateful for your assistance."

"We should be thanking you for your timely arrival. The result might not have been the same otherwise." Just thinking about it had Kakashi touching his healed stab wound.

Gaara inclined his head. "I've taken the liberty of sending a message to the Hokage, informing her of the incident, its resolution, and your situation. You are, of course, welcome to stay as long as needed."

It was Yamato's turn to bow in thanks. "Thank you for your hospitality. Kakashi will be staying with us at the apartment, provided the doctors agree." He shot him a playful glance.

"They said he'd be fine when he wakes. Most of the injuries had been seen to in the forest anyway," chimed in Temari. "They also mentioned Sai would be fully healed in another two days," she added.

"Which leaves us with one last unaccounted piece..." Gaara meant, of course, the unexpected tag along.

Yamato launched into a longer summary of their encounter – having given the bare bones prior to the battle – including the "apparently she's not from this world" part. That raised a few eyebrows, but the company was polite enough to wait until the end to ask questions. When everyone seemed at a common loss to explain her presence, and especially the strange ability to share injuries with one of their own, they settled into silence.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "We'll take her with us. Given the inexplicable look alike figurine in her possession, I'm sure the Hokage will want to examine her and investigate the situation." Not to mention he had questions for her as well.

Gaara nodded. "Very well. I've been told she's still asleep. I take it you'll delay your departure until she wakes?" Yamato nodded. That, and Sai needed more medical check ups, not to mention Kakashi could use a few more days of rest. "Good." With that, Gaara stood up, signaling the end of the meeting. The Konoha shinobi excused themselves and left the office, leaving the siblings to discuss privately.

Yamato led Kakashi to the apartment, giving him a spare key just in case. "Sakura got the smaller room, the three of us are in here." Kakashi glanced at the sizable room, big enough to easily fit two three-man cells. "I'll get us some lunch."

"Thanks." Kakashi went to living room and sat on the couch, glancing at the balcony to find Shikamaru already splayed on his back, staring at the sky. Kakashi was about to close his eyes when a shape caught his eye.

On a shelf, sitting against a book at the edge of his vision, was the strange doll. Himself, in miniature. He resisted the urge to go burn it, remembering the strange sensation he'd gotten when the girl had touched it simultaneously. The doll might've been the cause of his new obvious weakness – the equivalent of a defenseless cub – but it had to be the only key to return everything to normal.

– – – – – – – –

This felt much longer when writing it, but dialogue just isn't as dense as narration, even while trying to cut a lot of "he said she said."

As for the incongruity comment, I might need feedback for one thing specifically (might become more later), so if you don't mind helping out simply by giving your opinion, please let me know! :)


	9. Rise and shout

I'm on a rolllllll! Barely finished chapter 8 that I'm already starting this bad boy! I think I've become addicted to my own story again (which is good, especially for you!). This is the part where the story takes over and I, slave to the keyboard, watch it type itself up.

**Note**: I'm in the "middle" of my move to Australia (from France via U.S.) so updates probably won't be regular until… let's say August at the earliest? Apologies… :x

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 9: Rise and shout**

Bits and pieces of distorted sounds reached Maemi's ears, rousing her with each new wave. Everything felt heavy in this darkness, she couldn't even open her eyes. The noise (was it voices?) grew louder each time despite sounding out of tune and crackly, as if coming from an old radio. She focused on it, slowly becoming aware of her body. She felt whole: her legs were there, and even both her hands. Strangely, she felt relieved.

She never thought wiggling her toes would be this mindful and difficult! The more she struggled the harder it seemed, but now the voices (someone was definitely talking) grew clearer and words were whole instead of fragmented. Her toes finally twitched, then her fingers. The most arduous battle remained her eyelids, but her willpower was stronger than their weight.

The brightness blinded her after her long journey in the dark, forcing her eyes closed once again. Wait, why _had_ she been in the dark? For a journey? The assumption seemed clear given her body stubbornly refused to awaken, but _why_? Disjointed pieces flooded her thoughts: falling, green, darkness, fear. She jerked up on the bed with a gasp, startling a nurse, a doctor, and Sakura out of their conversation.

Maemi glanced around, breathing frantically, and recognized nothing and no one. Intense fear gripped her core, and seeing the strangers approach made it worse. She clutched the sheets with unknown vigor, her hands turning white, a faint pain in her arm barely registering. One of the strangers ran out of the room but the younger one kept coming closer.

"N-no!" The world swayed slightly, intensifying the panic. A part of her realized her abnormal breathing, but for some reason that only aggravated the situation. Her breaths got shorter and shorter, her throat struggling to open long enough for much needed air. Somewhere in there, she heard her name.

Pink came in her field of vision, which was increasingly taken over by dancing black dots. "Maemi!" The girl took another step forward, her hands up in a placating manner. "Calm down, we're not going to hurt you."

Without realizing, Maemi had been inching away from them until her back met the wall at the head of the bed. The words buzzed in her ears, resonating strangely. _She knows my name..._ Images popped up suddenly: the pink girl dragging a blond away, the pink girl with glowing hands, the pink girl introducing herself with a smile.

"Sak-ra-"

The girl smiled, taking another step. "That's right." She saw her struggling to breathe and came up to the side of the bed. "Breathe for me, slowly." Maemi tried, she really did, but her throat was squeezed shut. "Breathe with me." Sakura began to take long, audible breaths. Maemi imitated her, trembling here and there, but slowly feeling the sweet air descending to her lungs.

A couple breaths later, she unclenched her fists and felt her body begin to relax through the leftover shaking. The doctor and the returning nurse stopped preparing the medication brought in and remained as observers, waiting a bit before crowding in, in case it set off another attack. Sakura glanced at the open door behind her and saw Sai, Kakashi, and Yamato standing there, worry discernible on at least one face.

Sakura encouraged Maemi until she was sure her breathing had returned to normal, then sat on the bed. The doctor dismissed the nurse, who in turn dismissed the three in the doorway on her way out. He sat near a corner and made some notes on the patient's chart.

Maemi noticed Sakura wasn't staring, or trying to reassure her, she was simply waiting. Maemi felt grateful for her nonchalant attitude and knew she could take her time, so she did. She pieced back the earlier fragments into the outlandish story she'd somehow found herself in, feeling overwhelmed and, quite frankly, incredulous she was still alive. She felt tears building up but willed them away, taking a deep breath before launching into conversation.

"So..." She cleared her throat.

Sakura turned to her, a friendly yet hesitant smile on her face. "How- do you feel?" Maybe not the best question to start-off.

"Nauseous but hungry. Parched as hell. And... still hoping I'm having a nightmare?" Sakura stared at her, returned her sheepish smile and got her a glass of water, which Maemi downed avidly. She looked at the teenager, trying to decrypt- anything, really. "... You're gonna tell me I'm not dreaming." She held back a sigh.

"Sorry..." Sakura's apology was heartfelt, that much was obvious. "Let me do one last check up, okay?" Maemi nodded, leaning back against the wall, barely realizing she was sitting on her pillow. Sakura started by removing the IV, which was surprisingly less painful than anticipated, checked whether Maemi could feel pressure on certain points, and finished with her glowing hands of witchcraft. Seriously, she wasn't even touching her!

The teen stood next to the bed, a relieved smile on her face. "You're just fine. You might feel a bit- sore though."

Maemi nodded, looking at the crook of her elbow where the IV used to be. There wasn't a trace left. She even touched it, but the usual after-needle pain never came. _Weird..._ "How'd you do that?"

"Hm? Oh." Sakura chuckled nervously, looking towards the doctor – still scribbling something – for help, which he wasn't prompt to offer. "It's... complicated?"

"Right. Chakra and shit..." Maemi let her arm drop and slightly bonked her head against the wall, staring at the ceiling wistfully. "I'm never going home, am I..."

Sakura couldn't answer. Instead, she looked for a way to brighten the mood a bit. "You said you were hungry, right? I'll go grab you some food. Sensei, could you come for a moment?" The doctor hopped out of his chair, as if eager to avoid to interact with the strange patient. "We'll be right back."

The door closed, leaving Maemi alone in increasingly sluggish thoughts. A reflection on the wall caught her eye and piqued her curiosity. Standing up proved to be a challenge, not because she couldn't, but because it took such conscious effort not to fall over. But she did manage to walk (weirdly) to the window, where she held onto the sill for good measure – apparently, her limbs couldn't be trusted right now.

What a sight. She noticed the walls first, providing shadows for a decent amount of buildings. Everything looked like sand, even the bit of horizon she could glimpse. Laughter caught her ears and brought her gaze on children playing a ball game in the street, amidst passersby, some of whom wore metal headbands of some sort. An image of the guys in the cave surfaced.

A knock pulled her back to the room just as Sakura entered, carrying a tray of food in one hand, followed by Sai and the blond guy. Maemi gave them an uncertain smile. Before she could do much more than that, the blond (what was his name again, some kind of food?) was walking over, a huge grin splitting his face.

"Great timing!" He stopped at an arm's length away, hands on his hips, beaming like the morning sun. "We were about ready to bring you back to Konoha like that." Maemi swallowed, feeling a bit woozy all of a sudden. Naruto took another step, glancing out the window quickly. "It's pretty cool huh? We're in Sunagakure you know!" Maemi tried to breathe but struggled to do so. Almost immediately, she collapsed to the floor, wheezing. By now, even Naruto noticed. "Hey, are you alright!?"

Maemi answered in gasps, unable to breathe. Instinctively, she drew her legs in, curling up on her side. Her chest and throat tightened, even more than earlier, depraving her brain of oxygen. The black dots returned with a vengeance, erasing her vision rapidly. Through her tingling limbs, she thought she heard Sakura yelling. A second later, she gulped in some air until her vision cleared. Her hearing patched through not long after, and her limbs were the last to come back.

She blinked, noticing Sakura kneeling in front of her. Looking up, she saw quite a few pairs of feet. Sakura helped her sit up, a concerned look on her face. "Thanks..."

An uncomfortable second passed. "I didn't do anything."

Maemi must have looked confused. To be fair, she was, utterly so. "... So- I just... stopped breathing for the hell of it?"

The crowd gathered at the door remained silent. Yamato noticed Kakashi frowning, and waited to see if he had an explanation. Shikamaru stepped through the crowd, looking as joyful as usual. "Kakashi-san, you must've noticed too, right?" All eyes fell on Shikamaru, ignoring Kakashi's slight nod. "Sakura, you probably have an inkling for the cause?" She hesitated.

"Okay Sherlock, what the hell is it then?" Maemi was losing patience. He could just share information instead of playing detective. She was met by blank stares and stopped short of rolling her eyes. _Right... Cultural differences..._

"Well, I didn't see the beginning, but you clearly got better as soon as Naruto walked away."

Right, Naruto. That was his name. She looked at the blond teen with confusion and thought his face probably mirrored hers. "I don't get it." It was Shikamaru's turn to roll his eyes at the slow-witted from another world.

"Well, it's just a theory, but we should probably test it out before we leave." He walked over slowly, his hands still in his pockets. Sakura, as if on cue, pulled Maemi up, keeping her near the wall so she could steady herself. Shikamaru came right over and leaned against the wall, nearly shoulder to shoulder with a still confused Maemi. They waited a moment. Maemi looked nervously around, one hand flat on the wall for reassurance, if nothing else.

"Clear." He walked off, regaining the crowd near the door. A few new faces had appeared in the meantime. "I haven't heard of her fainting in the air, so we know Sai's clear. Sakura's definitely fine, she's been nearby a lot. Yamato-san..."

Yamato nodded and walked over, his face neutral – which Maemi didn't like much, it made him look intimidating. He leaned at the same spot as Shikamaru, albeit standing taller. Again, nothing happened. Maemi didn't know what to think anymore. Were they playing games? What crazy 'theory' did this kid have and why the hell was everyone just doing what he said? Although, she supposed 'crazy' was definitely appropriate to describe anything that happened here.

"Kakashi-senpai." Yamato walked away, leaving the spot wide open. Maemi unintentionally tensed up, feeling her teeth clenching together as if awaiting a dire verdict. The tall figurine (she preferred not to think of him as an actual person) approached and leaned on the wall, just as close as the previous two yet somehow also guarded.

Nothing happened. Kakashi seemed eager to leave that side of the room though. Naruto looked just as confused as before, if not more so. "Naruto, give it another try."

"Huh? … Okay..." He approached cautiously, visibly nervous – for those who knew him, he looked as if he'd expect Sakura to kick his ass. Maemi watched him walk over, like she'd done the previous three, and realized the queasiness returned as soon as he was within arm's length. She leaned against the wall, starting to fold on herself.

Before she could gasp for air though, Sakura stepped in and Naruto took two steps back, still confused. "What- the hell-" Maemi made an effort to breathe deeply, to dispel the dizziness.

Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto," the blond turn to look at him, "sorry but, you'll have to keep your distance from her." If Maemi didn't know any better (she didn't, though she thought she was good at reading people), she could've sworn he looked hurt, if only for a second. "Guess I'll go work on the travel arrangements..." Just like that, Shikamaru left the room and the troublesome situation.

A blond girl with tiny ponytails followed him out, drowning him in too many questions. "What... just happened." Maemi straightened against the wall.

Sakura glanced back and forth between Maemi and her teammates. "Why don't you eat first, you must be starving. We gave you a few boosts via the IV, but you were sleeping for three days so you really ought to restock..." Sakura took a few steps towards the group near the door (and the bed), inviting Maemi to follow.

She did, albeit slowly. She felt exhausted. Once on the bed, she poked at the food on the tray. She _was_ hungry, had been for a while, but even though her stomach audibly grumbled – especially while staring at food and smells wafting straight to her gut – she had no appetite. She had a gulp though, maybe she'd get hungry as she ate – sometimes that worked. The soup had gone cold, but the deliciousness remained.

"We'll let you eat then, and come back when-"

Maemi slammed the bowl down, spilling soup on the tray. "Oh hell no!" She was done with all the bullshit. "Cut this shit out and just freakin' _tell_ me what you think I don't want to hear." If their unwillingness was any indication, she probably wouldn't like it.

"We'll come back later." The last two unfamiliar people left the room quietly.

Everyone else grabbed a chair and sat down. This might take a while.

– – – – – – – –

Crappy ending, I'm sorry! I sort of hit writer's block (again), and I was heavily distracted by the fact I was leaving in a week and my apartment just wouldn't pack itself up, whaaat!


	10. Awaited answers

And we're back! Sort of. I've been in Australia nearly four weeks, in grad school for three and I haven't yet moved into my place (sobsob). The jolt back to school is… difficult, let's say. I have a _lot_ of readings and all my grades come from essays, soo… guess how I spend my days~? ;-;

In any case, I'm sorry you waited so long, know that my time until November will be sort of limited (until I get myself settled and in a good "controlled" routine), but I am so so glad more people are reading this and liking it! From here on out, the plot is more likely to take over and improvise its way towards an ending. We'll see what happens. I was almost done with this chapter when I went back to add something and a whole scene just- popped up. So random!

Thanks for your patience and much love for the reviews! Here we go…

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 10: Awaited answers**

Yamato volunteered to start but Kakashi stopped him before he uttered a word. "It'll be easier to show than explain." He took a kunai and sliced his palm open.

"Ow!" Maemi stared at her left palm, dumbfounded. Glancing up, she saw masked-dude's hand at eye level. It bore the same exact cut. "Wha... But-"

Sakura took the initiative to heal the cut on Kakashi's hand, so Yamato jumped in to explain what he could. "We don't really know _how_ it works, though we have a theory..." His words drifted into Maemie's ears, but nothing seemed to stick. She watched her hand with fascination as the pain faded, then the skin seemed to mend itself, leaving no scar behind.

"The stab wound-" Yamato, yet again interrupted, gave up on talking and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms on his chest resolutely. The shinobi in the room could see understanding dawning on Maemi. "It was... you?" Her eyes finally dared to meet the live figurine's.

Kakashi sighed but gave a short a nod.

"I nearly died because of _you_?" Her angry tone left much to be desired, but the accusation was clear. "I thought you were supposed to be 'extremely skilled' or- 'okage worthy,' (1) whatever the hell that is! But you get yourself stabbed and taken out of commission so easily!?" Maemi wasn't sure where this resentment came from, but she couldn't stop it from pouring out – it'd be like trying to swallow bile.

She could see everyone giving her the same look: a mixture of incredulity, surprise, and condescension. Who was she to insult one of their comrade, as if he was at fault for fighting against a skilled madman.

"Are you done?" Kakashi stared her down, not at all impressed but increasingly discontent. When Maemi finally diverted her glare of doom, he continued. "One of the main reasons I got injured was because something took me off guard." Maemi rolled her eyes. "I felt- terror. Like my insides were turning to stone."

Maemi stilled. The words he used, the _specific_ words he'd just used, she was familiar with them. She'd felt them, in fact. The unpleasant memories were quick to surface. Kakashi watched her reaction, but mostly he _sensed_ her bewildered surprise. "Something knocked me off balance, gave him the advantage..."

Hesitantly, Maemi spoke up. "Did you... get hit- around here?" She motioned at her abdomen, stretching from her ribs to her hips. She was carefully avoiding eye contact.

"Yes."

She sighed. "I don't remember it. I just woke up sore." She hated to admit it, but if he was put in a disadvantageous position because of whatever hit her, it hadn't been his fault she'd nearly died. On the contrary, she might've been the one to cause both of their near-deaths. Frustration, anger, and insecurity gnawed at her from the inside. "I'm sorry." She was obstinately staring at her food tray.

The apology took everyone but Sai by surprise. Apparently, Maemi's bluntness wasn't restricted to arguments.

"It's not your fault." Kakashi felt a tiny smile tugging at his lips and wondered if it was because he felt her conflicting emotions.

"… How can you say that?" Maemi's voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't belong here, and if what happened is a preview of this world, chances are I'll die pretty quick and get you killed." Her eyes stung from forming tears but she held them back and willed them away, staring at the food as if waiting to burn a hole through it.

The shinobi shared an uncomfortable glance. She caught on quick. "You really think we'd let that happen?" Sakura's voice rang with fierce determination. Maemi stopped a nod and shook her head mildly.

"She's right, one of the best medical-nin in Konoha has your back," said Yamato, giving Sakura a smile, "besides, not to brag, but the rest of the team is pretty good too." Maemi gave a nod, her neck drooping forward as if she felt safer behind a curtain of hair.

From the corner of the room, Naruto echoed his teammates' conviction and elbowed Sai until he added something he thought appropriate – naturally, from a book. Soon, the ambiance in the room had changed from tense to relaxed and optimistic, and Maemi didn't know how to feel.

"You better finish eating, or you're not leaving this room." Though a thinly veiled threat, Sakura's tone was pleasant.

Maemi gave another nod and prepared a spoon of soup. She held it in front of her closed mouth and realized she couldn't eat: the lump in her throat was too big to swallow. Of course Sakura noticed and went to sit on the edge of the bed again, then carefully put her hand on Maemi's left one and gave it a gentle squeeze.

As if on cue, the unwanted tears sprang from their cages and slid freely down Maemi's face. _They're really nice people..._ She swallowed the lump and squeezed Sakura's hand back before taking the spoonful of soup. Slowly but surely, Maemi finished the soup, in between silent sobs and forced cheerful conversation from everyone else.

She'd just began eating some rice when Naruto made a particularly loud comment – as he's wont to do when excited. "I'll become a greater Hokage than you Kakashi-sensei!"

"Now that you mention it..." Yamato turned to glance at Maemi, "She did mention something like that, didn't she."

Her mouth half filled with rice, she hurriedly swallowed to stare back perplexedly. "Said what?"

"You mentioned Kakashi-senpai was Hokage worthy."

Maemi shot Sakura an uncertain glance but noticed her slightly baffled expression. "What?"

"Did Sai talk to you about the village?" Despite her confusion, she looked as determined as ever.

Maemi shook her head. "No, I'm pretty sure my knowledge of your world starts and stops with 'chakra let's them do crazy shit.'"

"… Could you have heard something from your friend?" Yamato pressed for an answer, intent on finding out the extent of her information.

"My friend-? Oh. You mean Tsuneko?" Yamato nodded. "I guess she told me some stuff… But it's not like I understood it, if I was even listening. Half the time she just talks _at_ me, you know?"

"So, about the Hokage..."

"I have no idea what I blurted out, but I'm pretty sure I was regurgitating useless info."

A brief silence settled in the room.

"Unbelievable. (2) You must really be from another world." Yamato's serious face turned mysterious.

"… Yeaahh… Isn't that what I said?"

Sakura smiled. "I think he means he's ready to believe you now."

Maemi blinked. "What, you think I lied or something?" Their silence spoke volumes. "Wow, amazing vote of confidence, thank you. I know we're not best friends, or friends at all for that matter, but I'd trust you. A bit reluctantly at first, sure, but who wouldn't after speaking dogs, glowing hands, and fucking flying daggers?"

"Wait but, how do you deal with wounds without medical-nin?" Naruto looked bemused.

"Naruto, another time."

Maemi rolled her eyes. "Why is it always 'later' with you people? Now's as good a time to deal with things, so why don't you? And while we're on the subject, you never explained why the hell I just had an asthma attack for doing nothing other than being next to someone. I mean, I know I'm 'connected' to _him_," she rudely shoved a thumb towards Kakashi, "or whatever-"

"Somehow able to share wounds and feelings, I'd call that more than 'connected,' wouldn't you?" Yamato's gaze was defiant and, unfortunately, slightly intimidating.

"… I don't know _what_ I'd call it since I didn't _ask_ for it to happen, something you're apparently inclined to forget. Does it matter what it's called? Call it magic then, or a curse, which is more what it feels like to be honest."

Kakashi could feel the boiling anger bubbling more and more intensely, as if Yamato was turning on the heat. He sighed and interrupted before the situation escalated.

"I'll explain." Maemi turned her intense gaze on him. "We know you're from another world, but do you know the basic concept of chakra by now?"

"… The bare bones, maybe."

"You might've overheard, but compared to a normal person from our world, your chakra level is stupendously low."

Maemi frowned, waiting for the killing blow. But there was a foreign sense of calm emanating from somewhere, a calmness that abated her raging anger.

"From what we know so far, you're most likely sensitive to greater amounts of chakra, and Naruto's… Well, he's above average."

Maemi glanced at the kid again. He didn't look like the type, what with his goofy face and mannerisms, but she knew better than to judge someone from their appearance. "Okay… So, the rule of thumb is to keep me away from chakra so I don't asphyxiate myself?"

"It's not ideal, but for now, yes."

Yamato glanced at the door, glimpsing a waiting Kankurou, and stood up. "Kakashi-senpai, we should probably leave." Kakashi nodded and stood up, along with everyone else. "Sakura, we'll see to the final arrangements so get her ready for the trip."

"Understood." They all filed out, leaving a tired Maemi behind. "Maemi-san, you should finish eating before we can get you cleaned up."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah..." In a daze, Maemi finished her cold food, thinking back to the unspoken accusation. What she wouldn't give to be back in her flat in Tokyo.

– – – – – – – –

Sadly this was shorter than expected... Apologies! I'll try to make up for it next time. :)

(1) I'm cackling by my devious self for this pun, but "okage de" in Japanese means "thanks to you" and apparently "okage" by itself means "aid" so, wow. So languagely devious, but brilliant. (Sorry I'm making up words again…)

(2) Believe it! … I deserve an internet punch for that. (Sorry not sorry!)


	11. Disappointments

Long time no update! As… you'd probably noticed… Truly sorry, but there was a week when I thought my brain would leak out of my ears, and I basically wrote three essays in about… four days? Plus a presentation, hah! Fun times… Followed by an emotionally awful weekend and grr. Ahem. So, of course, when do I start writing this? When it's Sunday and I have an essay due Friday and about 70 pages left to read for said essay. HAH. But we just got an extension, yayy. Which just means I should still pretend it's due Friday...

Also I promised a longer chapter so I added a few pages, I figured I have enough practice BSing my way through papers so this should be easy-peasy (not entirely true, but definitely easier and faster, especially without referencing every. Single. Sentence.). Anyway! Thanks for the reviews in my "absence!" They're like my caffeine boost for motivation (or theine, as I don't drink coffee…). Merci, and let's get rollin'!

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 11: Disappointments**

Maemi soaked in the hot bath, relishing in the peace and quiet, not to mention her sore muscles could use a good massage. She'd been surprised, and yet not so surprised, at the amount of dirt she'd scrubbed off earlier. Honestly, the tenacity of her ragged dress surprised her more. Shame it was reduced to rags, now she truly had nothing left of her world – except for the plushie. She held back a sigh and dunked under, counting the seconds until she ran out of breath.

She surfaced to the sound of knocking. "Maemi-san, I've left clothes for you."

"Thanks..."

Maemi heard a bit of shuffling, then a brief pause. "We'll be leaving in a few hours, so- please be ready."

What else could she do _but_ get ready? They wouldn't leave her here, would they? Not that it made much of a difference to her (sensitive non-shinobi that she was), but from what she gathered their place wasn't in a desert, and truthfully, she couldn't wait to leave this Saharan-like place. Reluctantly, she got out of the comfortable bath, feeling much more relaxed, and dried off before going to find her clothes.

Sakura was still outside when she heard what could possibly be a foreign obscenity. She knocked, waited a second then poked her head in. "What's the matter?" Maemi's furrowed brow was hint enough. "Do they… not fit?" Sakura had made sure to pick clothes that fit her a bit loosely, given Maemi's slightly taller stature.

"Tell me, what exactly are these clothes?"

"A standard shinobi outfit. Why, what's the p-"

"Right," interrupted Maemi. "And you want to dress _me_, the useless one, in something that others would interpret as skills I clearly don't possess. Where's the logic in that?"

Sakura stared, then blinked. "I understand, and that's a valid concern, although not completely unforeseen on our part," she gave Maemi a small smile, "but we figured it offered the best protection."

"… Yeah, until it doesn't, because it looks like I can defend myself."

Sakura's face contorted in a concerned yet slightly amused expression. "Despite the fact we'll make sure nothing happens to you, or Kakashi-sensei for that matter, you're wrong." Maemi looked at her, confused. "You're far from 'useless.'" And before Maemi could roll her eyes or scoff, Sakura continued. "I mean it. You've already processed what information we gave you and thought of possible, though _uncertain_, scenarios. I'm not sure anybody could adapt this quickly."

Maemi stared at the doorknob interestedly. "Not like I have a choice… I sort of don't want to die here," she finally mumbled back.

Sakura's face split in a smile. "Everyone has a choice." Maemi shot her an uncertain look before giving a sort of shruggish nod.

"I guess I did go through the denial part… Acceptance is the last step, right?"

Sakura hid a chuckle in a mild cough before recomposing herself. "You'll wear the outfit, travel safely to Konoha, get another few good meals in you, and then we'll sit down and discuss the available options."

Unable to help it, Maemi sighed. "Fine, I'll wear the stupid outfit."

"Come downstairs when you're ready." Sakura closed the door behind her.

Surprisingly, Sakura did a bang up job picking the clothes, they fit Maemi nearly perfectly. Despite feeling foolish and most definitely _un_professional, what with their awkward bulk and all, she dared come down and joined whoever was left. Probably one person waiting on the slowpoke, as she remembered from last time. Turns out she was right, and yet completely wrong. There was someone waiting, but not someone she'd met before. He stood so still he could easily have been a statue. A really pretty, unusual statue. His back was half to her but she couldn't quite make out what was weird about it, especially in the dim light. Was he a hunchback? She could distinctly see some curves where there shouldn't be any and-

He turned his head slightly as she came down the last steps – she might as well have been stomping those foreign shoes, she was so loud in this silence. Oh. Of course he wasn't a hunchback. Whatever was on his back was weird, though. She paused when his piercing gaze landed on her and quickly averted her gaze. Of all the things to wear… She glanced back at him, noticing the bright red hair, his strange eyes and most of all- "Is that a _gourd_?" She couldn't help but gape at the sheer size of it. What was he carrying in there, water? Was the desert that bad?

"Yes." So the statue did speak, although apparently not very much. He turned his body to face her, arms crossed over his chest.

Maemi looked at his tattoo briefly, in what she hoped wasn't a stare. His eyes were strange, but definitely beautiful. _Figures weird unrealistic shit actually happens in this world. Alternate dimension. Whatever._ Before she could stop herself, words fell out of mouth. "You have red hair."

If Gaara was expecting anything, that was not it. "Yes…?"

"I mean, it's _really_ red, I've never seen natural hair so bright before." Oops. Mouth, control the words! Seeing as his mouth exercised better control than hers, she forged on ahead. "I'm Maemi by the way," she continued, not expecting an answer, "they probably mentioned some worthless puppy tagging along..." She paused then frowned. "No, a puppy's too generous, even their dogs can speak and be more useful than I could ever be..." she mumbled.

Gaara looked at her, unblinking, until she realized he was still there, behaving like a human tree. "Sorry..." The half-smile she attempted grind to a halt in a brief grimace. She cleared her throat and willed a small, convincing smile to blossom. "So what's the gourd for? Is it filled with water?" She approached him, curiosity radiating from her eyes and body language.

"No. It's sand."

Maemi frowned skeptically. "Seriously? There isn't enough out there you have to carry some arou-" She stopped, suddenly unable to breathe as her throat closed shut, black dots wasting no time in painting her vision. Before she knew it, she was on the ground, trembling.

Until she could breathe again. Blessed air, it had never felt so good to drink it in. She took slow, meaningful breaths, closing her eyes and concentrating on feeling her limbs again. Her head hurt a bit, maybe she'd smacked it when she fell, along with her right hip and shoulder. The trembling lessened but it took another few minutes to disappear, and even then she felt a bit woozy in her body. Wanting to avoid a black out, she tried to get up slowly.

"Sorry, could you help me up? I'm apparently very frail..." She managed a wan smile.

Gaara shook his head from afar. "No, it seems I can't approach you either."

Maemi's frowned in confusion. "Either? Wha-" She stared at him, mouth hanging open mid-sentence. "Oh. Your chakra exceeds my limit?"

"You could say that."

Maemi sighed and sat up carefully, under the watchful eyes of the nameless statue. Once seated and certain of her steady breath, she stood up. Despite her legs feeling a bit like jelly, she thankfully didn't face plant. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so, someone showed up after the awkwardness, only to bring some more. Maemi looked at him and promptly turned to the other side, wanting to avoid him as long as humanly possible.

"So you've met..."

Whatever was going on behind her back, Maemi didn't know, nor did she _care_ to know. She stubbornly refused to engage in any kind of anything with _that_. Him. Whatever.

Unfortunately, it decided to speak directly to her. "I thought I felt some… pain?" The question was unequivocally meant for her, which is why she pointedly ignored it and decided to play with the many pockets on her flak jacket.

"She fell."

_Tree-man, thanks for the fill in, could you not though? You make it sound like I did it on purpose._

"I believe she got too close."

_Or that I'm a perv?_

She heard it sigh. "That's right, since you never formally met we didn't say anything..." Soft mumbles, probably not meant for her. Great. "Maemi-san, say your thanks and follow me."

To that she did turn around, a confused yet questioning look on her face. She saw it briefly shake its head. "The Kazekage is the one who protected you from Yorikane."

Maemi's face blanked, the name bringing only terrible memories. She glanced at the living statue and saw him frowning.

"I wouldn't say-"

Kakashi cut him off gently. "We would've died if it weren't for your protective sand."

Right, because _that_ made sense. Protective sand. Maemi stopped short of rolling her eyes, although she'd learned by now that this fucked up world meant a lot of impossible things for _her_ might actually be possible, if not ordinary, here. Still though, to know she – partly – owed her life to that human tree (who did speak and move more now) was enough to thank him honestly.

She approached him cautiously, staying well out of two arms' reach, before politely bowing in thanks. She straightened up to greet his blue-ish green eyes and gave him a sincere, but tiny, smile. "What's a Kazekage?"

She definitely heard _it_ sigh before it deigned answer. "_Gaara_-san here _is_ the Kazekage, the leader of Sunagakure."

Maemi blinked. "Oh." She stared at the human-tree Gaara and tilted her head to the side slightly. "Sand?" He gave the tiniest lip movement she'd seen yet and assumed it amounted to some sort of smile: he'd seen her eyes land on his gourd.

As if to answer, a thin stream of sand flowed out of the gourd and gracefully swished forward in beautiful circular movements. Maemi stared, open mouthed, and followed the sand with her eyes. It curled around her back and reappeared on the other side, giving her enough time to work up some courage and try to touch it.

She tried to hide her disappointment, but apparently not enough. "What now?" The live figurine was apparently full of sighs.

"It just feels like sand." Definitely holding back some discontent.

"It _is_ sand."

"But it's floating-!"

"Yes, because the Kazekage's controlling it." Really now, wasn't that obvious?

"Yeah but..." Maemi's knitted brow couldn't express the depth of her disillusionment. "That's just boring? I thought normal stuff for me was grandiose in this world. So sand should be, I dunno… Softer? Brighter? Made of gold?"

Tree-man Gaara's lips cracked a bit more this time. Kakashi simply looked at her in fatigued disbelief. "Are you leaving?" Kakashi straightened up a bit and turned to face the Kazekage.

"Yes, preparations are mostly complete, we're just double checking the food inventory."

Gaara gave a nod and left the apartment lobby. Kakashi turned to Maemi, who promptly averted her gaze to her clothes, a contradicted expression on her face. "Follow me." He didn't bother waiting for an answer, knowing full well she would, unless she wanted to take the risk getting lost here – which he hoped she wouldn't, why was she so unpredictably annoying?

Maemi did follow him out though, wanting nothing else but to get to their village and get another outfit because good god, she looked beyond ridiculous in this! She realized the sun was setting as most of the village was already plunged in lengthening shadows and frowned, slightly displeased. "Are we traveling at night?"

"Yes. The temperatures are much more manageable than during the day, and there are less chances of a sandstorm."

Right, because deserts had sand and a lot of wind, so sandstorms. They're a thing. "What happens if we get caught in one?" She tried hard to keep the worry out of her voice. She was a curious person, and a curious, interested person asked a lot of questions, right?

Kakashi didn't need to decipher her tone to know the possibility made her nervous, he could feel it like a soft wavering in his stomach. Not something he usually felt. "Then we try to find some cover and wait it out, there's really nothing else we can do." Before they reached the group, he turned around to face her. "I almost forgot, here." He handed her a small backpack. She gave him a questioning look. "Look inside."

Maemi did, and she smiled in relief at the familiar sight. "We thought it'd be best for you to hold onto it." She touched the plushie, as if checking it was real, and nodded quietly. The live version turned around and kept walking, Maemi trailing behind.

They rejoined the group and Maemi made sure to keep her distance from the overcharged batteries the two hair weirdos seemed to be. _They look like good friends though._ She felt a pang of loneliness at the thought of her friends and family, unreachable, maybe forever so. Thankfully, the nearby voices proved distraction enough – for now.

"… sure you can handle it?"

Sai nodded. "Yes, I assure you I've done it before."

"But never for that long..." Sakura looked a bit concerned.

Sai simply smiled and produced three black pills. "They'll help." Sakura reluctantly dropped the subject and double checked their water rations. Maemi awkwardly stood in the middle of the bustling group, unsure what to do. Glancing around, she saw Sai looking at her and hesitantly gave him a timid smile. She hadn't seen him since… He might've caught her suddenly frozen expression, or simply wanted to be friendly, and approached her. "Hi."

"Hi..." She looked him over slowly.

"I've been seen to." His smile was slightly amused.

Maemi answered the only way she knew how: "Hmph. Can't really tell, you're pale by nature."

He chuckled quietly but didn't otherwise object. "You look good in that, it's very flattering." Book speak, which Maemi didn't know he did.

She briefly shifted uncomfortably. "Hah! Yeah right, it's probably what pictures of dogs in Halloween costumes look like." Sai gave her a blank stare. "Ugh, freakin'- Never mind, it's... just comically ugly."

Before long, the team had thanked the Kazekage and said their goodbyes. Maemi sighed when Sai's drawings materialized into thin air. "Really? This again?" Her mumbles were meant to vent her frustrations, not for anyone to hear. But someone did.

"It won't happen again." Maemi startled and shot Sai an apprehensive look. His smile seemed to soften briefly. "We won't be flying as high this time, we have a pretty good escort, and I'll catch you again on the off chance you fall."

Maemi swallowed nervously but gave a brief nod. He _had_ caught her when she fell, she had no doubt he'd do it again – or anyone on the team, for that matter.

"Alright, everyone hop on, we have a lot of ground to cover." At Yamato's command, the group split into pairs and jumped on the back of the giant birds. Maemi watched as Sakura sat behind Naruto, Yamato behind Kakashi, and a blond girl behind Shikamaru. She turned around and saw Sai's hand waiting. _Figures..._ Not that she was complaining, at least this was familiar, to some extent…

With everyone ready, the birds took off, circling once to wave final goodbyes before flapping higher while heading for the village's entrance. The sun was nearly set by now and by the time the birds had left Sunagakure behind, it was nothing but a dark shadow. Maemi did her best not to look back and stare forward, not that there was much to see in that darkness either. She definitely didn't loosen her hold on Sai's shoulder though.

After a silent while, curiosity got the better of her. "Who's that girl?"

"Temari. She's a Sand shinobi, Gaara's older sister. She has some business in Konoha so it made sense for her to accompany us."

Reading in between the lines, something Maemi was getting incredibly used to in this world, she understood there were still safety concerns and an added escort couldn't hurt. "Hmm… Gaara's sister..." She digested that for a bit and stared at her back some more. Surprisingly, the night wasn't as dark as she thought, probably because the clear skies let the moon and stars shine brightly, unhindered. "What's that thing on her back?"

"A fan."

"A… _fan_?" Not the time for bad puns, though she was ever so tempted. "It's huge." Sai chuckled.

After another hour or so, Maemi's arm protested by nearly cramping and she reluctantly let go of Sai – with the promise to haunt him for generations if he did anything remotely scary. She spent a good five minutes rubbing feelings back into her arm and just as she grabbed Sai's shoulder with her other hand, she noticed the birds descending.

"Are we stopping?"

"Yes, every two hours. I have very strict instructions." She noticed a slight strain to his voice and didn't push the matter.

Once regrouped, the birds disappeared. Maemi glanced around, standing awkwardly just on the outside of their loose circle. She saw Sai wrap a blanket around himself and lay down under Sakura's supervision, of course. Somehow, someone made a fire, and despite the thickness of her clothes Maemi found herself inching closer to warmth.

"How was the ride?"

She startled a bit and quickly glanced at Sakura, soft smile on her face, now standing beside Maemi. "Fine..."

"That's good." Sakura nodded pensively. "This might be a bit slow going, but we have to let Sai rest every two hours. Despite the ration pills, having him fly four birds for long periods is pretty tiring..."

Maemi nodded. Not that she particularly minded getting off the bird every so often, despite nothing happening, the bad memories seemed etched in her subconscious and her natural response from seeing the ink birds was definitely more flight than fight.

They rested an hour before departing again. Conversations were few and far between, even during breaks. Maemi did her best to stay quiet, nibbling on light snacks by the fire, checking on the plushie she'd been tasked to carry, and keeping an eye on Sai in the air. He wasn't much of a talker to start with, but he'd definitely been less and less keen to initiate anything the more he flew them through the desert.

Dawn crept up on them, and despite her aversion to their mode of transportation, Maemi was glad they were soaring through the sky as it offered a magnificent view of the sunrise. Probably the most beautiful she'd ever seen. Soon enough, she began missing the night's cool air. The long sleeves and pants protected her from the sun, but she felt like a chicken in an oven, roasting slowly.

The wind felt good, although it wasn't exactly cool and seemed to be getting stronger. She soon noticed the birds had some difficulty gaining ground. Temari signaled a landing and Sai obliged, probably relieved he was getting another break. Maemi frowned slightly. "Has it been two hours already?"

Sai shook his head as the birds landed carefully on the burning sand. Maemi had to shield her eyes from the wind, wincing as some sand lodged under her eyelids and hurried to gently push them out. Temari hopped off before the bird disappeared, slight tension on her face. "Storm's coming, we need to find shelter."

Luckily, she'd waved them down near a rocky area so the group spread out briefly to find the best place. Maemi resumed her awkward standing, one hand gripping the plushie tightly, the other holding onto the backpack's straps slung over her shoulder. A sandstorm was pretty natural, at least her world had those. Not that she'd ever _experienced_ one before – not living in the desert and all – but this seemed less freaky than flying on man-made "animals."

The winds grew stronger and dustier, leaving everyone squinting. "Over here!" Yamato waved at the entrance of what looked like a tiny cave. The supplies were quickly assembled and covered, especially the water before the group huddled close, barely fitting in the cave's mouth. "Maemi, come on."

She walked over, wobbled might be more accurate given the wind was toying with her, opening her bag to hide her treasure when the wind tore it out of her hands. "Ah-!" Nononono, the plushie might be her way home! She ran after it, barely hearing the shouts and curses behind her.

Squinting through brown wind, Maemi launched herself faster before her way home disappeared, to be lost and buried in a sea of sand. She could see its dark shape twirling and with one last big step and half leap, grabbed it midair before it could be blown away forever. She shoved it hurriedly in her half open bag, closed it and turned around only to be met with sand.

She retraced her steps, not that she could see them, before pausing, forearm shielding her eyes. She'd been told not to move. But surely she couldn't have gone very far, it was only a few steps.

Before she could decide, she felt a hand grab her arm, and then she slammed into someone's side, as if they'd both been magnets. Confused, Maemi tried to push said someone away, except she couldn't. "Hold still!" And she knew that voice. "Of all the-" Good god, why him.

Kakashi held in whatever else he meant to reprimand her with and instead gave her a cloth. "Cover your face!" He wasn't exactly yelling, but the howling wind demanded a louder than usual voice. Maemi tied the cloth over her face without question, she didn't want to hack on sand and be unable to breathe, having a parched throat in the morning was unpleasant enough. He made her sit before the wind could knock them over, their backs against the wind, and most surprisingly, her back to his chest.

_Is he- shielding me?_ He most definitely was, if the arm wrapping around her shoulders was any indication. The wind justified his actions though, as it ripped through the desert, throwing rocks at incredible speeds. She felt pain in her back once and felt him jerk forward at the same time. She was pretty sure she'd be tumbling on the desert floor right now if it weren't for his grip on her, but together they were heavier and had less chance of being blown around.

The wind only grew stronger with each passing minute. Even with her protective clothing on, the sand had insinuated its way in and was grating her skin, but she could still breathe okay. She'd read once sandstorms could last up for a full day, but she wasn't sure either of them could hold for that long. The only reassurance she had was the strong grip on her shoulder, and the regular heartbeat of a living plushie against her back.

– – – – – – – –

Originally I wasn't going to have the ridonkeyuculous thing happen now, but then ideas happened and, like a whirlwind, here we are. The funny will probably start next chapter! I also can't help but have Maemi be pissed off at everything for some reason – which, let's be honest, is quite fun to write. Do let me know what your predictions/expectations are! (Before anyone asks, still no romance planned, but then again, the plot does tend to run away on its own… But it won't be Kakashi! If anyone at all.)


	12. Complication

… H-hi? So sorry I disappeared, the semester kicked my ass! (Grad school is pretty much like its reputation.) And I got a part time job, and had my first school breakdown and then life and blah and more feelings and blah. Basically a bunch of excuses left me in no mood to write, until I made myself write. So I did. I made it longer, as meager attempt to apologize… m(_ _)m Thanks for waiting! (Also, funnily enough, whenever I think about updating, I get a new review. Are you psychic?)

On the bright side… Let the ridiculousness begin! I take responsibility for nothing… *runs away*

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 12: ****Complication**

After what felt like hours of howling wind, moist breathing and pretending to be a rock, Maemi was quite exhausted from sitting as still as she could. Not that she was uncomfortable against Kakashi's chest, she just didn't want to _start_ feeling comfortable. When the wind finally died down and the remaining sand floated to the ground, Kakashi let go of her shoulders and briefly shook himself off before turning slightly and stretching out his legs, his shoulder bumping Maemi's.

She took it as a sign she could take the cloth from her face and breathe fresh air. She'd never get over that wonderful luxury. She spit out whatever sand she could from her gritty mouth and ran a hand through her hair and patted herself down slowly, taking her sweet time turning around to delay facing his wrath.

Eventually though… "What were you thinking, running off into a sandstorm like that?" His voice was restrained but definitely shook with anger. Maemi felt a distant twinge in her stomach, a feeling she recognized too well from watching Tsuneko do too many stupid things: worry.

Her mouth opened, then closed. He was _worried_ about her. She tried swallowing and pushed some sand down. "I- the plushie..." she said weakly.

Kakashi half turned, his shoulder pressing into hers, which wasn't even adequate distraction from his mighty judgmental look. Maemi averted her gaze quickly. "It's- I-" Mumbling was not her forte. She sighed. "I'm sorry..."

"You could've died out here." His voice was still full of authority but in a soft, regret-inducing tone.

"I couldn't _not_ get it. It brought me here, what if it took me home?" Then it hit her. _Of course he was worried, he didn't want to die._

"What's done is done. Come on, let's try to find the others." He stood up, and Maemi found herself, quite literally, drawn to Kakashi. Before she knew it, she was standing next to him – uncomfortably close – her arm stuck against his. Kakashi paused, his flak jacket open with the remaining sand falling out.

Maemi tried removing her arm, which was seemingly glued to his for no apparent reason. It refused to budge no matter how she struggled to remove it. She tried stepping away (she couldn't), then attempted pulling her arm with all her strength, to no avail. "Wha-"

Kakashi, not oblivious to the arm suddenly attached to his, looked over his shoulder, confused. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not-" Again, she pulled her arm away with all her strength until she felt she might pop her shoulder, and still, her arm wouldn't budge. She stared at her arm in confused horror.

"We really don't have time for this..."

_Did he just sigh?_ "You try it then!"

Kakashi, clearly not understanding how hard it was to take an arm away, simply stepped forward, expecting the end of that. Except Maemi followed, despite not having taken a step. She was still standing slightly behind him, stabilizing from this weird pulling movement, but her arm was unfortunately still there. "Hmm."

"'Hmm' ain't gonna cut it damnit! What the fuck!?" She kept struggling to get her arm back through various means – sitting down abruptly, resulting in a hilariously sprawled human figurine, putting both feet against his and briefly cheering until she realized their feet were now stuck together, or finding a decently sized rock to grip while pulling their separate way. Nothing worked. "Get your feet away!"

"You're the one who's pulling!" Not that he should let his temper get the better of him, but really, she was hoisting herself onto a rock, and he strangely found himself dragged in the sand after her. She shouldn't be capable of this.

When the others found them, Maemi still held onto a rock, mightily cursing out Kakashi as seemed to be the new normal. "Well, at least we know they're fine..." said Yamato, crossing his arms on his chest. "… Care to tell us what you're doing?" Everyone else looked as confused as him and clearly expected an explanation.

Maemi pointedly kept staring out into the vast desert, still clinging onto the rock half beneath her. He could answer that, and he _should_.

Kakashi sighed yet again. "It seems we have a new complication..." He stood up, eliciting a yelp from Maemi as she found herself snapped into place against his arm. _Again_. The others stared at them in stunned silence.

"Complication is a mild way to put it, senpai."

"Agreed." Maemi shot Kakashi a dirty look, as if this was his fault.

Temari interrupted the unfurling drama. "Great, new seating arrangements. Let's go before another storm rolls in." She turned to face Sai, who wasted no time in summoning the birds. The earlier they left the desert, the happier he'd be.

Once the supplies were gathered and secured, everyone jumped on. Yamato took Maemi's spot behind Sai, leaving the unlikely pair a bird to themselves. Kakashi made to jump on, but paused. He grabbed Maemi's hand and jumped on with her to avoid dragging her behind. Amidst her mumbled protests, the birds wasted no time gathering height and speed.

Maemi hadn't moved an inch since they'd left the ground, and her legs increasingly felt like lead. Her shoulders were starting to cramp, not to mention her hands, trying desperately to hang on to the bird's smooth back. _What's it made of anyway, paper?_

"You can relax, you know..."

The voice startled her enough that feeling came back to her legs, slowly and prickling painfully. "I hope you can feel this pain..."

Unfortunately for Maemi, Kakashi was close enough to hear her grumbles. "What, the blood rushing back to your legs?" Kakashi took her grunt as confirmation. "Yes, it's there, but muted."

"Like ghost pain?" It took a while to explain what ghost pain was, and why it was so common in her world. By the time she'd finished explaining, she was comfortably seated with her knees to her chest, giving her an anchor around which to wind her arms. She could feel the heat of his back a centimeter away from hers, no doubt the only distance they could manage. Strange as it was, it felt like a steady rock, and even stranger, a comforting one.

They both sat in silence for a while, Maemi lost in thoughts while her eyes looked blankly at their surroundings. A dull ache grew within her at the thought of her home, her parents, her friends… _Did anyone even notice I've disappeared? Tsuneko must've, at the very least to get her plushie back… But is the police still looking? How long does it take for a case to be filed as unsolved and rot in archives?_

"You miss your home..."

The voice startled her again, even if it was a soft observation, not an accusation. "Yes..." Her throat constricted and her eyes pricked in warning. Kakashi didn't push. The forest came into sight as Maemi's tongue loosened. She talked about her parents and the last time she'd seen them, mentioned the friends and teachers who would've been expecting a visit or phone call, the job hunting she wasn't doing, the jobs she wouldn't try, and the traveling she couldn't do.

Kakashi turned out to be a great listener. He didn't interrupt, but always had the right comment at the right time. He quietly listened to Maemi's choked sobs and forced sniffles, and let her cry without judgment. The pain he felt, although muted, wasn't unfamiliar to him. Different, yes, but not alien in nature or intensity. Once Maemi calmed down enough and he felt her tears had probably dried, he shared one painful memory, vague on details but similar enough to show his understanding.

Their bird began a slow descent between the trees, only to land in a small clearing amidst the group. As usual, the birds disappeared and Sai sat himself at the base of a tree for a short rest. Maemi found herself an unwilling participant in the strategy meeting, but as she literally couldn't leave Kakashi's side…

"We're a day and a half from the village. It'd be best to send a message and have another team meet us on the way back, just in case."

Maemi didn't miss the way Yamato glanced at her for that last comment. "Just in case some other nutjob shows up and nearly succeeds in killing one of us?"

Kakashi sighed. Again. "Extra precautions can't hurt. I'll send Pakkun."

Maemi watched, half in fascination, as Kakashi bit his thumb (and hers) hard enough to draw blood (what even?), said some mumbo jumbo, and poof, a literal dog appeared. "Nice trick..." she muttered to no one. As soon as he appeared, the dog jumped off (can dogs actually jump that high?) and disappeared. "Well, enough hallucinations for one day."

She made to turn around, go find a quiet spot and wait out the hour until Sai came to, but she couldn't actually budge more than a step. With her back to the group, she huffed and she puffed, she strained and she tried, but that second step just wouldn't happen. Panting and sweaty in those stuffy clothes, she turned an accusatory glare to her usual target, who closed his eyes in anticipation and let out yet another sigh.

"What now?"

"Why am I still stuck to you?"

Kakashi blinked almost lazily at her. "How am I supposed to know? I still don't know why we're stuck together in the first place."

Maemi made to retort, but he had a rather valid point. Something she'd never admit to his face, especially in front of a crowd.

"Besides, this is already progress." Maemi looked at his arm in confusion. It was about a foot's length away. "We didn't have this wiggle room before."

"Great. Baby steps." Maemi sank to the floor, and noticed, to her slight disappointment, that her new shadow didn't follow. She was left squatting and staring at a lot of feet, thankfully being spared the many restrained smiles on most faces around her. She tuned out the rest of the meeting involving strategies she couldn't quite comprehend without understanding the underlying basics. She noticed, quite resentfully, that nobody bothered to explain them to her. Not that she'd asked… But would they, even if she did?

Before she knew it, the group split up. She took it as her cue to get up and find a resting spot, so she did. Except she'd forgotten about her shadow and found herself stopped in her tracks when he tried to walk in the opposite direction. Glaring at him over her shoulder, she obstinately took another step forward, aiming for a nice moss-covered rock in the shade of a tree.

Kakashi stumbled slightly behind her. Maemi smirked victoriously. Until he, too, took a step forward.

"Oh come _on_!" With all her strength, she strained to move forward, even if by an inch, but alas... "Why can't you just go this way?"

"Why can't you just learn to follow?" Kakashi had long lost the habit of following another's lead.

Slight coughs interrupted their little tug of war, and they both realized everyone but Sai was staring at them in a mixture of bewildered amusement, some trying hard to hide their laughter. They both immediately stopped moving and turned away from the crowd, that is, towards each other. _Ugh… great… But wait. He's not moving… which means-_ Maemi turned away at once and nearly ran to the comfortable looking rock, dragging an unwilling Kakashi behind.

This time laughter _did_ erupt at their antics, but she didn't particularly care, although she wondered if her shadow had looked ridiculous while being forcefully moved. Too bad she had no eyes in the back of her head, it could be an enjoyable spectacle. That is, if he didn't return the favor any time soon…

As if he'd read her mind, Kakashi took a step in the opposite direction, but Maemi had already reached the shady spot and now clung to the rock like her life depended on it. The laughter redoubled, but she didn't care. She would _not_ budge! _Good luck dragging a rock!_

Kakashi indeed had a hard time inching forward. Watching him struggle against invisible bounds proved comical to everyone, except Maemi clinging on for dear life, refusing to give in. She felt the moment he stopped pulling, as if the space between them relaxed, similar to unwinding a rubber band. Grinning despite herself, Maemi couldn't help but gloat. "Giving up?"

"Don't count on it… Yamato-" He waved him over and they began talking in low voices.

But not low enough. Her suspicions were confirmed as soon as Yamato gripped Kakashi's hands and began pulling. Maemi tensed up around her rock immediately. "Cheating! Oh my god that's- cheater!" She felt her fingers begin to falter and slip across the moss. "Sakura! Gimme a hand!"

Sakura ran over and obliged by grabbing both of Maemi's wrists and pulling back. Sakura was stronger than she looked, and Maemi felt the skin on her back tense and stretch uncomfortably, as if duct tape was being ripped off painfully slowly. She bit her lip and held onto Sakura tighter. Maemi could handle a little pain if it got her new shadow more than a foot away from her.

The pulling stretched on and intensified, not only due to exerted strength but by the gazes of the other three group members. Maemi bit her lip until she bled, and still, the pulling didn't stop. _Goddamn- ow! Is he immune to pain too?_ Just as she thought that, Kakashi relented.

"Alright, enough of this..."

Yamato took a few steps back, a slight frown on his face, while Sakura simply released Maemi but remained kneeling in front of her. "Are you okay? You don't look too good..."

"'m okay… Gimme a sec." Maemi breathed as deeply as she could, feeling the tingling (which usually preceded fainting) travel through her veins, from her head to her toes. Kakashi must've felt it too, to some extent, because he sat down right next to her (not like he had a choice) and leaned back against the rock. Eventually, the tingling subsided and her attention switched to her back, which had never felt so sore before. It was like she'd gotten a terrible sunburn and her damaged skin had nearly been ripped clean off her back.

She stared at Kakashi until he could no longer pretend he didn't feel the weight behind it and he turned to look at her. Maemi glared on.

"Well. Now we know physical separation won't happen any time soon."

His "matter-of-fact"ness bugged her. "You're awfully calm about this..." Now that she'd said it, she became aware of a foreign, almost blurry, feeling which made her want to flex all her muscles at once, especially her legs. This urge to run was understandable, considering they were stuck together, although it definitely wasn't hers. Her anger usually manifested verbally by snapping poisonous words.

"Being anything other than calm won't help us think, or get back sooner."

Maemi stared at him with renewed curiosity. She could hear it now, the slight sense of apprehension and bafflement. Oh it was very slight, but it was there alright. Maybe she was the only one able to pick up on it because she had no other choice, but at least, she knew he was truly human – to some extent. "Right. And I guess your pain tolerance being what it is, another bit of skin ripped off is no big deal."

She felt the smile on his face more than she saw his lips move beneath his mask. "I _have_ been through worse, you know."

"I know." The smile was infectious, Maemi's face was split by one before she had time to stop it. She held his gaze expectantly , willing him to utter what he must've realized she wanted now.

Kakashi huffed in amusement. "You- withstood it well..."

"For a weak, normal human? Why thank you!" And for once, there was only a hint of sarcasm. Maemi beamed, grinning proudly. "I _am_ quite good at handling pain you know."

Sakura chuckled at the mimicry.

"Well, if the duo is done performing..." Yamato was nicely settled across from them, in the merciful shadow of a giant tree.

"Like you weren't enjoying it..." mumbled Maemi, settling down against the rock. Kakashi followed suit, and the rest of the hour passed without notable incident.

When Sai woke up, the conversation kept returning to a showdown he'd apparently missed, and Naruto volunteered at once to summarize the whole thing, his voice fluctuating with excitement a bit too often. Shikamaru and Temari had agreed it would be best for everyone but the forced pair to travel by foot, so as to deflect suspicion and, in the worst possible scenario, get them back to safety first. Sai seemed relieved, if only slightly, that he wouldn't need to fly four birds at once and conjured another cloudy looking bird from his scroll.

Strange as it sounded, Maemi was slowly getting used to things popping out of nowhere. Even the speaking dogs didn't seem to surprise her (much) anymore. It wasn't until she was back on the bird, Kakashi sitting back to back with her, guarding the rear while half the group traveled ahead of them, that she noticed a sluggishness to her movements.

"You can sleep if you'd like."

"Hm? No, I'm… I'm alright."

"There's no need to act tough. You're probably feeling the after-effects of spending chakra."

Maemi's brow furrowed. "I don't have any? How could I spend what I don't have? Unless you have a chakra credit card..."

Kakashi ignored the foreign word. "I used chakra when summoning my nin-dogs. Considering we're… a pair, it wouldn't be strange for that to affect you."

Maemi chuckled at his tactful words. "And what a pair!" But she was mumbling now, as if acknowledging her situation somehow summoned the sleepiness forward. She couldn't help herself slumping backwards, against all her better judgment whilst floating on an ink bird, and gave up fighting her heavy eyelids. Kakashi adjusted his back against hers and stilled when he was confident she wouldn't slip.

He glanced at the treetops below and caught flashes of his team speeding towards Konoha. A few more hours, and hopefully this nightmare would end…

– – – –

Tsuneko was beside herself, pacing to and fro in her room. It had barely been 24 hours since Maemi's disappearance, and thoughts wouldn't stop whirling through her mind, wondering how she could ever get her best friend back.

"Tsuneko- come downstairs please."

Giving up her pacing, Tsuneko obliged her mother's call and hastily went to meet her in the living room. Snacks were on the table, along with four cups, and the kettle was boiling in the kitchen. Tsuneko turned a questioning look to her mom, who gave her a strained smile and a soft pat on the arm. "Maemi's mother returned at once. She'll be here soon."

Tsuneko's jittery nerves froze and the air seemed to vanish from her lungs. This was the closest she came to feeling gut-punched. The never ending thoughts paused for a mere second, before roaring back to life mercilessly. _Coming here!? Oh my god what am I gonna say! I can't even face myself, how can I even look at her mom?_ And suddenly her empty stomach felt full, too full. Nausea lapped higher and higher until the vaguely familiar squeezing of queasiness sent her to the bathroom in a hurry.

She'd barely finished heaving when the doorbell rang. In no hurry, Tsuneko flushed her feelings away and rinsed her mouth avidly. When she looked up in the mirror, the face staring her down looked paler than she'd ever seen, which her feverish brow didn't help. She could hear talking, and Maemi's mother's voice was loud and agitated. The foreignness of it all clamped her insides again. _I'm responsible..._ She glared at herself in the mirror. "I caused this..." Although whispered, the accusation was no less true.

Tsuneko left the bathroom at last, walking as slowly as she could muster towards a path she'd never imagine walking. Even before she breached the living room threshold, she could hear the panic die into stupor. It probably wouldn't be long before the stupor gave way to anguish.

As soon as she walked in, familiar eyes fell on her. The look nearly stabbed her. Maemi had her mother's eyes. Maemi's mother stood up at once, ignoring the customary greeting. "Tell me… Tell me everything." Despite having heard her own mother telling her the news (again), Tsuneko obliged. She could see Maemi's mom hanging on to her every word.

"I'm so sorry..."

Seeing Maemi's mother willfully repress tears proved beyond agonizing for Tsuneko. The guilt was eating her from the inside out. The mothers began talking again, and as expected, anguish gained the upper hand. In between sobs and a few hugs, Tsuneko tuned out, wondering why the police hadn't come yet and why nobody else was showing more concern at the highly unusual disappearance of a fresh graduate.

A small (despicable) part of her _was_ glad though, because if people started asking too many questions, they might eventually find out the truth and she couldn't handle anyone else's blame but her own right now. Tsuneko listened as her mother called the police again (was this the third or fourth time?), and explained yet again about a college graduate who disappeared without a trace.

_Maybe I can get another plushie..._ As soon as the thought appeared, she felt invigorated. _Of course! What was I thinking!_ All she had to do was buy another plushie, go back to lady in the semi-suspicious shop and go to the Naruto world herself! Aside from getting lost and the numerous possibilities of getting killed there, it was the most brilliant plan she'd ever had.

No… She had to think carefully about this. If she did manage to go that world, assuming it existed (_oh my god listen to yourself, you sound like Mae!_), she needed a sure way of getting back.

Slowly, Tsuneko began hatching a plan. She'd be as meticulous as Maemi had been for studying and as careful as Maemi had been about false hopes. The standards were impossibly high, but for Maemi… Tsuneko would try anything.

She couldn't leave now, both mothers would raise a fuss and questions would slow her down, especially in the long term. She had to bide her time and keep playing the part of the broken hearted friend – though that part came quite naturally, as she truly was. She made bullet points on her mental to-do list and kept repeating them over and over, like a soothing mantra, and the world suddenly became calmer and more together. It felt like time had slowed down.

Tsuneko was acutely aware of every passing second, and the mothers' slow anguish was torture. She couldn't help but wonder if _she_'d disappeared and the tables were turned, would her mom act the same way? Cry as if her heart had been cut out, surviving off fragile yet precious hope, and love like there was no tomorrow? And Tsuneko's heart sank deeper, because she knew her mother would.

Her ticking mind clock stilled. She couldn't leave this world. She wouldn't dare inflict this pain on her mother after seeing first hand the damage she'd already caused. She had to figure out a way to get Maemi back without going into the Naruto world, just in case- just in case there was no way back. The shop lady was her best bet, she _had_ to see her.

– – – –

Kakashi noticed the dropping altitude and wondered if they'd gotten close enough to Konoha to walk the rest of the way. He was about to bend forward slightly to try and glance at a teammate when Maemi shifted, catching him off guard and calling on his shinobi reflexes to stabilize her. She'd been so still the last hour he'd nearly forgotten she was there at all. Thankfully, they were pretty close to the ground when she awoke, so his grip on her shoulder could be interpreted as a nice waking gesture rather than a preventing death move.

The bird landed, and Kakashi hopped off, trying not to judge Maemi's sleepy mumbles and definitely not laughing at her uncoordinated dismount. Yamato, Sai and Sakura were closest and already approaching. Before anyone could get a word in though, an excited shout brought everyone's attention to the jubilant blond.

"They're here!"

Maemi sleepily rubbed her face, trying to dispel the drowsiness. "Who's 'ere?"

Amidst the darkening forest she caught a big white blur and blinked. The blur grew bigger as it approached, followed by three people she couldn't quite yet see. In no time, the new group landed in front of the travelers. Naruto wasted no time in greeting the newcomers, followed by a radiant Sakura and a pleased Shikamaru.

Maemi, on the other hand, just stared at the weird guys. Sunglasses and a hood, on such a warm day? Despite the growing darkness, the sunglasses didn't budge. The other guy could be Mononoke's brother, what with the red streaks on his cheeks and that giant animal as his companion. _Is that even a dog?_ Strangely enough, the last teammate made Maemi feel more at ease just by being female. She seemed normal from the outside as well, long hair (although a tad too purple), the weird but regular shinobi outfit… Yeah, she seemed normal. Probably.

She hung back as the groups caught up and chatted with renewed animosity, probably retelling their tales. Kakashi turning around surprised her. He'd been standing so still next to her she'd forgotten their situation. "Let's get some food." Without waiting, he grabbed a dropped bag and turned his back on the merging groups, pulling her with him.

As nonchalant as he acted, Maemi almost felt like he forced himself. She was, however, grateful he didn't make her meet them. She really didn't feel like telling her story again. Kakashi settled at the base of a tree, a spot Maemi was growing increasingly fond of, and started rummaging in the bag and pulling out wrapped portions of food.

"Thanks." She made sure to briefly meet his eyes this time, with a slight smile.

Kakashi handed her some food and water. "You'll have plenty of explaining to do tomorrow, no need to go through it today." He unwrapped a sandwich and began eating.

A rational explanation, but Maemi was sure he felt her swell of gratitude. She dug in and chewed slowly, half lost in thoughts, half wanting an excuse to avoid speaking.

Temari plopped down in front of them, grabbed some food and began eating with a few vague comments about the trip.

"How long will you stay in Konoha?" Kakashi, like Temari, had just finished eating. Maemi was barely halfway through.

Temari shrugged. "As long as I need. Got a few things to take care of with the whiner over there." She shoved a thumb over her shoulder, but it clearly implied Shikamaru.

Kakashi chuckled. "He might be slow to start, but he does a proper job once he starts."

"Oh I know, I keep telling him to shape up and try harder." She shook her head as if he was a lost cause.

The small talk continued until Maemi paused, fixating on the approaching group. _Oh no..._ She wasn't ready, she didn't want to be gaped or pointed at, or worse, talked to. There was no escape though, she could see the group's intention from the bags they'd grabbed: they were joining them for dinner. She slowed her eating even more, partly to continue avoid talking, partly because she felt queasy.

Thankfully, everyone settled on Kakashi's side and were a fair distance from her. One of the newcomers was as loud as Naruto and apparently shared similar eating habits, but the other two seemed soft spoken and rather polite. Her stomach eased slightly and she took another bite, paying only slight attention to whatever bits of conversation she could catch. Her anxiety eased completely when Kakashi fielded the one question meant for her. She finished her sandwich in peace.

Once dinner was done, Yamato volunteered to magic a house for the night. It didn't even take a minute. "… Ok seriously, what's in his food and can I have some?"

Kakashi chuckled and stood up. "Come on."

It was the smallest house she'd seen yet, not that she was complaining, but it was still comfortable. That is, until Shikamaru decided sleeping arrangements. The teams were used to sharing small spaces and as such, divided into two and took the bigger rooms, leaving the smallest to the fascinating duo. Maemi didn't even protest, the bigger rooms were rather close to each other and she preferred to keep her distance from Naruto. Besides, she wasn't really tired and had no intention of sleeping. Still, this could be a long night…

– – – – – – – –

Thanks for reading (and commenting)! Hope this answered some questions for you, though it probably created new ones… Ah well. I'm flying semi-blind here, and as such could use a beta reader for the next chapters! Comment/PM/tumblr (seriouslydidijustdothat) me if interested. :)


	13. Revelation

The lucky chapter (13) has arrived! I gotta say, you guys seriously have the best timing. Every time (and I mean every. single. time) I get closer to posting, I get a comment! Good job on the timing! (Are y'all psychics, or?)

Pros: Grad school is now over! Thankfully. (I hate procrastination with a passion.)

Cons: I need to stabilize my visa/job situation or find another country to migrate to… (cue stress)

Thanks for sticking with me and coming back for more! I always appreciate your lovely comments! :D I will definitely finish this story one way or another, just don't hold me to a firm deadline… life likes to throw curveballs... Anyway, enjoy! You deserve this!

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 13: Revelation**

Kakashi unfolded his sleeping bag and paused in the middle of the room. Figuring out who slept where wasn't usually this much of a hassle, but given the givens…

Maemi glanced at him when he paused. He didn't seem the undecided type.

"Sleeping preference?"

"Oh. Uhh..." She cast a quick look around the room. The window caught her eye. "This wall?" She moved to the side of the room and settled in the middle of the wall, giving her a nice view of the night sky.

Kakashi settled as far as he physically could, which was still about a foot away. He laid the sleeping bag down and took off his flak jacket. She turned her back to him and faced the window, halfheartedly laying out her own sleeping bag. _Tsune would probably kill me for this… Then again, I'd kill her for getting me here. Guess that makes us even?_ Maemi heard the blessed sound of a page turning and looked back.

Kakashi was reading a book despite lying flat on his back (_what, no cramps?_). She couldn't help herself. "Do you have another book?"

Judging by Kakashi's sudden flustered face, she probably should've read the title first. _Figures the main character is a closet pervert..._ "Never mind. I probably don't want it." She resumed staring at the night sky, missing the comforts of her own bed. She definitely missed her mom, but dwelling on those thoughts would do nothing but grind salt in her own wounds.

The noise from the other rooms finally quieted down, leaving her with her roommate's ruffling of paper and the night sounds. After what felt like ten minutes, it sounded like Kakashi put his book away. Sure enough, Maemi heard the rustling of his sleeping bag and was left alone. Well, as alone as she could get.

She didn't feel like sleeping though, she'd rested a decent amount earlier while flying and had probably messed up her sleep schedule. Not that she'd had a regular one since coming to this world, but clearly something wasn't right if she wasn't tired at all and the sky was this dark. The gentle rustle of the leaves made for perfect background noise, but Maemi began to feel hungry.

Grabbing her backpack, she pulled it on her lap to explore, and hopefully discover, its wonders. She found the plushie first, which she left next to her pillow, it'd be amenable to cuddle if she felt so inclined. She found water, and helped herself generously, yet not so generously to avoid being woken early morning by a full bladder. She groped around the bottom of her bag a little longer, but unfortunately, there was nothing left to grab.

The disappointment stung. She tried not to let it evolve into bitter resentfulness or all kinds of thoughts would undoubtedly ruin her night. _Why didn't they give me food? Do they think I'm too weak to carry it, or is it a protective measure to make sure I don't run off while they're not looking? Not that I could now, thanks to this- bullshit. Not like I have anywhere else to go, either. Ugh. This is the worst. I'm the worst. Fuck it all._

"You can look in mine."

Maemi jumped. "God, I thought you were sleeping!" She had to take a breath to steady her startled heart. "Nearly gave me a heart attack..."

Kakashi chuckled, as if embarrassed. "Sorry… I'm a light sleeper while on missions."

"Yeah, guess that makes sense… Don't want to be ambushed in the middle of the night." Maemi stared at him. "Oh my god, are we gonna be ambushed in the middle of the night!?"

"No no, I didn't mean to worry you. We're close to the village and we have a full schedule of lookouts. We'll know if anything happens."

Maemi nodded, as if convincing herself his words were true. Which they probably were. Right? Kakashi distracted her by pushing his backpack towards her. "I probably have two or three rations left. Help yourself." On that note, he settled on his back again and closed his eyes.

"Thanks..." She definitely felt awkward rummaging through someone else's bag, but… the hunger convinced her otherwise. Attempting not to make too much noise was proving quite a challenge as she had to pull out some clothes (_what is this, a cloak?_) only to discover there were some sharp objects in there! Thankfully, they didn't fall in her lap but in front of her crossed legs. She stared at the ridiculous amount of what certainly constituted weapons and immediately began to rationalize again.

_Of course they need weapons, they're ninjas. Hah! Ninjas. Are you hearing yourself? Tsune would have a field day to hear me say that. But… those are definitely shuriken. And everything looks sharp. I don't even want to touch anything, I might accidentally lose fingers, or chunks of flesh._

As quietly and carefully as she could, Maemi attempted to wrap the cloak around the sharp pieces of metal, and skillfully slid the whole thing in between herself and Kakashi, a little ways away from his bag. He could enjoy packing that up tomorrow, she wasn't risking it. Continuing with her backpack search and rescue – search for the food, rescue herself – she pulled out a few more things before hitting the jackpot. One of those things was a small, empty notebook.

Along with the death cloak, it was the only thing she didn't replace in the bag and instead left it near her head. She'd ask him the favor in the morning. But first things first: food! Maemi unwrapped the deliciousness and ate to her heart's (or stomach's) content. By the time she was done eating, the shining moon and lazily blinking stars enticed her to sleep. Tomorrow was a big day anyway, everyone would probably be able to pick her out as an impostor within any crowd.

Maemi wiggled in her sleeping bag and rolled on her side, grabbing the plushie as cuddle buddy because she didn't particularly want to fall asleep sad, and having it close to her was the closest thing to having a friend close by. Before she knew it, sleep dragged her under.

– – – –

Tsuneko paced to and fro in front of the tiny shop, both hands tightly hanging on to her bags. It took another five atrociously long minutes for the shop lady to beckon her in and it felt like Tsuneko had waited for hours. In all fairness, she _had_, but she'd had to wait until after the scheduled appointments, right before closing time.

In no time at all, she'd launched into a rushed explanation of the situation, sitting on the edge of her tiny chair. The shop lady simply sipped her tea, nodding here and there. "So I bought a replica, and I want to know if you can bring her back." Tsuneko pulled a newly bought Kakashi plushie from a shopping bag and placed it on the table, where it promptly fell on its face.

The old lady looked at the plushie with calculating eyes, flicked it over and scowled. "Unfortunately not." Tsuneko started to protest and beg at the same time, but the lady continued. "This is not the original item, it means nothing to you, it has none of that imbued energy the previous doll had. Remember what I said?"

Tsuneko faltered. "Any ordinary object won't suffice. I could end up lost in between worlds forever."

"Exactly. I cannot send you to her with this deficient replica." The old lady finished her tea, never changing facial expressions, which was slightly concerning.

"Could you- bring her back another way?"

The old lady took a deep breath and lit a cigarette, taking a drag before exhaling a perfect circle. "There might be a way..."

Tsuneko straightened up, focusing completely on her possible savior.

"If you can find something she valued as much as you valued your doll, it might be strong enough to pull her back. Otherwise..."

"Yes?"

"She might be able to send herself back, if she has something important connecting her to someone she loves strongly."

"… So you can't do a spell to bring her back, like you did to send her here?" Tsuneko tried hard to hide the crushing disappointment from her quivering voice.

The old lady, breathing out another cloud of smoke, shook her head. "No, she's already in another world. For a spell to work, I'd need to meet her face to face."

Tsuneko sighed and let her head drop with overwhelming chagrin.

"Don't despair so much. If your friendship is as strong as you said, you might meet her sooner than you'd think."

"What? How? What do you mean?"

The old lady stood up and escorted her to the door, clearly indicating she was closing up for good. "Come back when you understand. Maybe then you'll have found something important to her."

And just like that, she closed the door in Tsuneko's face. Rude. And cryptic. With wild thoughts buzzing around, Tsuneko began her trek back home utterly puzzled and confused, half of her hopeful Maemi might still come back, the other half completely lost as to how to make it happen. The emotional roller coaster of the last 24 hours seemed to have sapped her strength. All she wanted to do now was curl up in bed and cry, or maybe sleep until she woke up from this nightmare.

Unsurprisingly, she found herself drifting off as soon as she sat on the train. The sound was familiar and comforting, and the warmth from the crowd too overbearing to ignore. Her head lolled from her chest to a stranger's shoulder, too used to sleeping passengers to shrug her off. Tsuneko drifted to sleep listening to the lulling bilingual announcement for the next station.

– – – –

Maemi walked around her campus, looking fondly at everything. The shape of the buildings, the beautiful trees, the hidden courtyards couples usually occupied, the cafeteria with its delicious yet cheap food… All of which were out of this world for her. She walked around, trying to memorize everything, and found herself in front of her usual vending machine, in the same hallway she'd teased and chided Tsune what felt like eons ago.

She sighed heavily. "Oh Tsune..."

Footsteps behind her made her jump and turn in apprehension, no doubt a new reflex from her previous 'adventures.'

"Ma- Maemi?"

Maemi stared, incredulous, at her best friend who'd seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Tsune? What-" But she was cut off when Tsuneko ran into her at full speed only to embrace her in the tightest hug she'd ever had.

"Ohmygod, Mae!" Tsune squeezed her friend even harder. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Tsuneko attempted to stifle her sobs, with very little success. "Are you alright? What happened, where are you?"

Maemi hugged her friend, feeling each hiccuped breath as she rambled on. "I'm fine, I'm okay," she repeated soothingly. "The spell worked."

Tsuneko stepped back, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head. "Ohmygod, did you meet him!? Did you find Kakashi!?"

"Well, they kinda found me… But yeah, we're um… traveling back to his village, I guess."

"Holy shit! Wow. I don't- I can't-" Tsuneko flailed around a bit. "Hot damn, the spell _worked_!" She froze. "The old lady… Holy crapadoodle, she was _right_! She said I could meet you sometime soon, and- and there you are!" Tsuneko had to pause for a much needed breath. Instead she just hugged her friend again. "I never meant for you to go there! I mean, I wasn't entirely sure it was gonna work, but for someone else to go instead of me-"

"Oh Tsune, I missed you," mumbled Maemi in her friend's shoulder.

"Me too. We all do." Tsuneko abruptly pulled out of the hug. "Oh my god, your mom came back almost immediately and I can't tell her, I haven't told anyone I'm responsible. Oh god. I'm a horrible person-"

Maemi gave a faint smile. "It's alright… Maybe I should've taken you to your word, literally. But..."

"Yeah… we never change, huh?"

They both smiled at each other sadly.

"Well, maybe it's a good thing I ended up here." Tsuneko gave her a worried, and tiny bit surprised, look. "After all, you probably would never try finding a way to leave, right?"

Tsuneko spit out a laugh. "Right… And no one better than you to figure that out."

"You bet." Maemi's smile froze slightly, her expression transforming into a frown. "Wait, _how_ are you here? I'm pretty sure I'm in a dream… Am I dreaming this up? Of course I am, my subconscious is trying to reassure me and you're saying exactly what I'd want to hear. But it's still nice to see you Tsune, even if I just conjured you straight from my mind."

"What? No! I- I think I fell asleep too, I just came back from that shop behind Mandarake..."

"Wait so… you're- actually you?"

"Most definitely!"

"Scientists would have a hell of a time trying to explain this then." They both laughed. What a feeling to be able to laugh with Tsune again, Maemi's heart swelled with joy.

Tsuneko fidgeted, fingers playing with her hair. "To get you back, I-"

"Tsune." Maemi looked at her friend with a serious expression. "I-"

But before she could continue, the world, which had been cozily dark, started brightening from the outside in. The light cut buildings in half, and whatever the light touched vanished. Both friends looked around, confused and scared. Suddenly, the space between them blinded them before disappearing. They both stumbled back to relative safety.

"What's happening!?"

Tsuneko, on the other hand, tried to get closer again, yelling to be heard. "Mae! To get you back-"

"Try to meet back here! Whenever- however we can!"

The light exploded everywhere, taking with it anything and everything, drowning the world in silence.

– – – –

Tsuneko lurched awake with a gasp, startling her pillow. She apologized to the business woman for falling asleep on her shoulder and looked around, trying to catch up to reality. She'd missed her stop. Crap. She hurried off the next stop and transferred to another line. It would mean taking the bus instead of walking home, but at this point she didn't care.

For some reason, she'd dreamed _with_ Maemi, a fact which, if told to anyone, would land her in a psychiatric hospital for sure. She had more questions than the old shop lady had left her with, but she'd have to wait until she was well and truly alone to ponder them seriously. As it was, she'd probably have to explain to her mom where'd she been and why she was so late…

– – – –

"Are you awake?"

Maemi gasped and flailed around, only to entangle herself in her sleeping bag. Kakashi looked at her with mild concern. "I didn't mean to scare you..."

"No, it's fine, I just-" She paused and looked at her sleeping bag, trying to extricate herself slowly.

"Just…?"

Once successfully out of the sleep trap, Maemi grabbed her water bottle and gulped all of it. She took a deep breath and wiped the corner of one eye as she answered. "I just had a weird dream." From his silence, she could tell he knew it was more than that, he was simply waiting for her to be ready to share. The sound of hurried footsteps outside the door made her look up and beyond inquisitively.

"Yeah, we're nearly ready." Kakashi stood up.

He was already dressed, and to her great dismay, Maemi noticed he'd already repacked everything. "Why am I only ever woken at the last minute? Way to make someone feel rushed..." she mumbled half sleepily and started rolling her sleeping bag.

Kakashi patiently held its bag open for her to shove the sleeping bag in. She noticed his fingers held no cuts whatsoever; she'd been right in letting him put his weapons away. Turning around to fill her backpack, with what meager belongings she had, she saw he hadn't touched the notebook she'd left next to her head. "Can I keep this?"

"Sure, but we have better ones back at the village."

"No this one's good, I can keep it on me all the time." She slid it in one of her many pockets with a content smile. "You wouldn't happen to have a pen to go with that?" Of course he did. She slid it in the same pocket. Then all packed, with her lightweight bag on her back, they left the room and were, as usual, the last ones out.

The house creaked and shrank until it was no more. Maemi stared at Yamato with a bored expression. "Just can't help yourself, can you."

Yamato looked confusedly from Kakashi to Sakura and Sai. Maemi hid a smirk behind a fake yawn. So they were all kinds of amazing in ways she never could. But her smartassery could potentially remain unmatched, and _that_ was worth a mini, solitary, celebration.

She looked around, half expecting her bird to be ready – Sai had always been punctual with these things. "What, are we walking?" She'd clearly meant it as a joke, but…

"Yes. We're close enough to walk there, even for you, and we usually try to avoid flashy entrances."

"Speak for yourself!" Naruto grinned widely. "I'll announce Uzumaki Naruto's return from the rooftops! And then, and then, I'll finally get to eat at Ichiraku!" He started ranting and raving about the deliciousness of ramen as he followed the leading group, the three latest arrivals.

Sakura and Sai followed behind Naruto, clearly taking the position in front of the unlikely duo, leaving the rear to Shikamaru, the fan lady, and the house wizard. The walk was slow, and Maemi had more than one chance to complain about their low opinion of her, insisting she was used to walking at least five to six hours a day (which gathered pitiful looks) in _heels_. "Of course guys can't understand the pain of heels, when do they ever truly understand the pain women go through without minimizing or dismissing it?"

Kakashi's neutral mask was slowly crumbling into bored stupefaction. "Oh god, don't tell me, this world is actually sexist isn't it. Of course it is, if it's written by a man. And it most definitely was. Pink hair? Can you say stereotype?"

"Um..."

Maemi paused mid-rant (as if she could ever truly be done) and glanced at Kakashi. "What?"

"When you say 'written,' what exactly do you mean?"

_Oh shit! Fuck. Did I-? I guess that never came up… I probably shouldn't have mentioned that, should I. Crap. Seriously, of all things to rant on! Damnit. What would even happen if protagonists self-actualized, would I die? Would this world end? What about the manga back home? Oh shit. I'm doing it again._

Kakashi's curiosity only amplified when he felt her anxiety bubbling.

"I mean… like- it's just… You know?" Clearly Kakashi did not. His eyebrow disappeared further beneath his forehead protector. "Like, well, how to say this, um…. See, so, in my world- no, uhh, well-"

As unusual as her mumbling was, it told Kakashi this was crucial information. "Just say it. There's probably nothing we can do that'll change that."

Maemi sighed. "You're right about that..." As far as she knew. But couldn't things change? She looked at his face, nearly three-quarters hidden but honest enough. "Fine… I'll tell you, but _only_ you. And you won't share that knowledge with anyone unless I agree to it. Deal?" She had no way of ensuring he won't break his promise, no way of enforcing it, and definitely no power to keep him quiet, but hopefully none of that mattered.

"Deal. If anything happens that'll warrant sharing this information, I just hope we'll have time for a discussion." And boy did things pop up out of blue, like that time giant snakes attacked the village. Or the many times enemies infiltrated their village. But at least he was being honest. They'd discuss this _if_ there was time.

She eyed him semi warily. "Alright…" She lowered her voice, just in case. "Where I come from… your world is fictional." She let that sink in. "In my world, this is just a book, and you're only a character in that book."

Kakashi contained his astonishment and instead concentrated on everything he felt, especially all the distant, fuzzy feelings. There was no excited pounding like five minutes ago when she clearly wanted to avoid this scenario. If anything, he could feel an undercurrent of nervousness, a smidgen of apprehension, and a big chunk of awkward sadness. "A book." Maemi nodded. "Fictional?"

"Yes. Like the book you were reading last night." She studied his face, but he was quite practiced in keeping a poker face. She tried to feel his surprise, or shock or- anger? She didn't really know what to expect, after all, she'd never been told she wasn't real. _But I'm here. Does that make me not real?_ She brushed the thought away. She'd just spoken to Tsuneko, it wasn't like her presence on Earth hadn't left a mark. Right?

The few awkwardly silent minutes stretched longer and longer, Kakashi seemingly too deep in thought (or processing thoughts) to do much of anything except walk. Maemi kept glancing at him every few seconds, expecting either a meltdown of epic proportions, or an erupting volcano. Maybe she should add an oddly timed epiphany to the list, just in case.

Worryingly, she didn't feel his feelings bubble and explore one way or another, he just- was. _Maybe he's meditating… Hah, yeah right._ A strange idea, though not the strangest by far. The silence lingered as the walk dragged on and on. Thankfully the forest was flat, she was spared the potential embarrassment (and pain) of stepping on the wrong stone and tumbling down. _Let me guess, in manga world I'd probably hit my head, and end up passed out and bleeding._ She could be a writer too, it couldn't be _that_ hard to come up with a plot, could it?

Except this story involved a concept she was completely unfamiliar with, and to be able to foretell the predictable plots and twists, she'd probably need an excellent grasp of the whole- chakra thing. _Am I seriously giving myself homework..._ Maemi sighed, then chuckled. Studying, she was good at, and once she was caught up on how this world works, it wouldn't matter how weak her chakra was.

Sai hung back, letting Sakura deal with Naruto (as usual) and fell in step with the forced pair. After some time passed in silence, he glanced at Maemi. She'd been too preoccupied with Kakashi's reaction (or lack thereof) to notice him until she blinked, and suddenly Sai was just _there_. She hid her surprise well, all things considered.

"Oh, hi."

He gave her his usual smile. "How are you doing?"

Maemi shot Kakashi a quick look before nodding away. "Fine, I guess..."

"Are you tired?"

_Oh, that kind of doing._ "No, not really. More thirsty? But I have water, so, all good, really." She patted her backpack and sank back into silence. Kakashi's nonplus-ness was starting to get to her.

Sai glanced between the two of them and jumped to conclusions. "Oh. I see, you need space. Later then." In a flash, he'd rejoined his comrades leading the way, leaving a puzzled Maemi behind. After a few more steps passed in silence, her thirst became too distracting.

"Is the book finished?"

Maemi, who'd been quenching her thirst, nearly choked on her water trying to inhale and spit at the same time. Of all the things to say, she hadn't seen this coming. Once her mouth was free from water, she peeked at him wearily. "Um… as in, complete?" _What else could he mean, duh!_

Kakashi simply nodded. "Hmm..." She actually had to think about that, given she wasn't a manga fan herself. She frowned in concentration, trying to recall all of Tsuneko's babbling. It was no easy task, for Tsuneko rambled on for days at a time, and Maemi had learned to block it out like background noise: it streamed in one ear and straight out the other. Still, the last time… must have been a few weeks before her arrival?

"I don't think so?" She paused, shifting through her recollections. "I mean, as far as I remember, which probably should be taken with a grain of salt, Tsune was going on about the latest arc of some attack or something..."

Kakashi frowned. "Attack?" The opportunity to gather intel wasn't lost on him, especially if it meant saving lives by being prepared. Although a nuisance, this girl could be a blessing in disguise – a very cumbersome, shackled disguise.

Maemi shook her head. "I know what you're going to ask, but forget it. I told you before, Tsune rambled at me, it wasn't really my thing so I just let her talk, you know? I wasn't paying attention because hell, it wasn't real!"

"Until now..."

"Yeah. Until now." She sighed. "I just know the series has been going on for yeeears, and Tsune has been buying every single volume and nearly going broke despite her part time job, not to mention she wastes so much time watching the entire anime. I mean, literally, _all_ the episodes, including the shitty fillers! Not that I know anything about any of that, it's just- she really loves that stuff and I'm the only who'll listen to her talk about it day in and day out..."

Kakashi attempted to sift through that information, but there wasn't much useful info in there, except that their book had been started a few years back. But none of that made any sense, their countries' histories were older than four generations of Hokage. Further thought or questioning would have to wait: lunch time had crept up on them, and their conversation had to remain private.

They sat in a loose circle, Maemi safely tucked in between Kakashi and Temari, who was too busy chiding Shikamaru to bother her with mundane conversation. Not for the first time, Maemi wondered how her shadow ate anything at all with that mask.

He must've sensed the spike in curiosity, or perhaps the increasing pile of question marks hovering around her, because he turned to her with a questioning look. "Something on your mind?"

Maemi abandoned her sandwich and furrowed her brows at him. "Many things, actually." She noticed (but ignored) the rest of the circle quieting down, as if preparing for the upcoming show. "Why do you keep your left eye hidden? How does it not give you headaches functioning with only your right when both your eyes actually see? What's _actually_ the point of your mask? Is it to filter out pollen, or are you super self-conscious? Doesn't it make breathing harder? What happens if you eat garlic? Do you ever take it off? How often do you wash it, and how many do you even have? But more importantly, how do you eat with it on?"

Naruto and Sakura exchanged a meaningful look. They'd been down this disappointing road before. Maybe they should have predicted this could happen and warned Maemi of the futility, but… they certainly would enjoy watching another show.

Kakashi sighed, half relieved it wasn't anything serious, and half dumbfounded she was questioning his clothing choices. Seeing her just staring at him told him she'd be expecting an answer to every single question. He'd better think of a diplomatic answer to placate her and avoid another outburst, but he was rather at a loss on exactly how to do so.

Maemi was still staring at him when the big white dog (seriously, how did dogs get this big?) barked and whined a little. She noticed the crowd tensing instantly.

"Kiba?"

"Is it me, or is he actually _sniffing_ the air?" Maemi's whisper was dutifully ignored.

Kiba suddenly let out a loud laugh. "Don't worry, he's just letting me know it's gonna rain soon."

Maemi's inquisitive frown furrowed even further. "As in… he _speaks_ to the dog? I thought dogs were the ones to talk in this world. Can anything make sense for at least two minutes?"

Everyone had returned to their food, but Maemi could tell there was still a quiver of uncertainty, and people seemed to be looking around more often and definitely more attentively.

Maemi glanced at Kakashi, who'd somehow finished his food in a flash, what!? "Well that's just not fair. I can't even- not even _one_ answer out of you, I mean- c'mon." She shook her head at him with a bored yet resigned expression. She wasn't surprised, definitely not, if anything she'd come to accept that's just how he rolled, but she'd be damned if she didn't pester him about it.

She was about to finish her food when the loud crack of thunder startled her. A second later rain was pouring through the canopies of trees, drenching them nearly instantly to the bone. "… I think I just lost my appetite." She dropped her soggy food on the ground and followed Kakashi's move against the trunk of a tree.

Despite being surrounded by a platoon of what she assumed were skilled shinobi, Maemi couldn't shake her sense of unease. Actually, it was Kakashi's unease that had her on edge. She glanced at him inquisitively. "Something you're not sharing?"

His frown worried her even more. "We don't usually get these sudden downpours in this season..."

Maemi's relief was evident. "What, don't you know the world's coming to an end? Climate change and al-" It was her turn to frown. "… You guys don't have climate change, do you?" His confused expression was confirmation enough. "… Well shit."

– – – – – – – –

Look at this, around 5000 words! To think I had to write 6000 for my special project, which I did in about 3 or 4 days. (I know, I'm crazy.) But fanfiction is much easier to write because there's no referencing! Plot is another matter though… like this ending. It insisted, so… I obliged. (Brain, I trust you to fix this!)


	14. Arrived at last

I'm baaa~ck! Belated happy new year, may 2017 kick 2016's ass.

Thanks for the lovely comment you guys, they're amazing and motivating and all around just daww!

(* v *)

News: Forced vacation → visa → job → nearly let go → forced vacation → job? visa? Ahhh, uncertainty! (In between: graduation, family visit(s), Rogue One, Melbourne, ongoing writing class...)

As always, thank you for waiting! お待たせしました！ Another long awaited chapter, here we go!

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 14: Arrived at last**

The rain didn't let up. On the contrary, it seemed to intensify the longer it poured. Everyone was huddled in groups around tree trunks, futilely attempting to find refuge from the downpour. Shikamaru, standing in between Temari and Kakashi, looked at the group huddled across from them. Naruto, Sakura, and the new girl Maemi hadn't formally met yet. "Hinata! What do you see?"

Maemi held back a gasp as veins bulged around the girl's eyes. _What the fuck._ "Ok that's disturbing. Should I even ask?" Kakashi ignored her.

Maemi noticed the metal plate usually covering his eye was actually on his forehead. _Strange time to change styles._ Wait, but he suddenly had two eyes! Even if he kept one shut, how the hell was that comfortable? She stared, transfixed, at his left eye. It was red, and weird. Hopefully not an eye infection? She'd probably feel that though, right?

"Three shinobi, five kilometers West!"

"How the hell can she see that far?" mumbled Maemi. "Oh, wait don't tell me: magical eyes?" Again, she was ignored.

Shikamaru looked at Kakashi for a second. "Roger that. Naruto, Sai and Kiba you'll go-"

"Wait-" Hinata frowned. "The rain… it's- almost imbued with chakra? It'll detect any movement!"

Yamato grimaced. "Clever, they can attack from afar."

"So troublesome…" Shikamaru sighed. "To be ambushed by Amegakure shinobi this close to the village, ch."

"They must've spotted us flying back," said Yamato. "But why wait until now to attack?"

"In any case, we'll have to deal with them." Kakashi flipped a kunai in his hand, a gesture which was quickly mirrored throughout the group.

Maemi just stood there, trying to absorb things as much as she could – except perhaps the actual rain. "Uhh… stupid question, but… what happens if nobody moves?" She'd meant to ask only Kakashi, but all the closest faces turned to stare at her. "Well, from what you said, they can discern movement, but… can they see non-movement, like shapes? If we're just standing there? 'cuz I'm imagining something like the Daredevil movie, in which case we're fucked-"

Kakashi cut her off before she rambled again. "Hinata?"

Hinata focused. "I- I can't be sure, but it seems like they can only detect movement."

"Makes sense, they'd be overwhelmed taking in all the scenery," nodded Shikamaru.

"So what should we do, Kakashi-senpai?"

"If we don't move, they'll have some difficulty pinpointing our location, and they might not know we have a sensor type with us, which gives us the advantage. But if they _can _distinguish between shapes, they already know our location and numbers, and getting into position would reduce what little advantage we have." This was a tough spot indeed.

"We could split up, we have more than enough to take care of three of them," said Yamato.

Shikamaru closed his eyes, going over strategies.

Maemi glanced around awkwardly. "Um. Do we- I mean, if we split, wouldn't I be a dead giveaway? I can't keep up with you and what if they can read chakra levels from their possessed rain? They'll know who to hit..."

Kakashi sensed the anxiety knotting Maemi's stomach and gently held her shoulder. "We don't know who they're after, and even if we split up, the group will block them from following."

She felt his confidence through his voice and attempted a tiny smile. "Yeah… I guess you guys are good like that." She felt the gentle squeeze on her shoulder before Kakashi turned his attention back to the group. She'd be fine, they were all important characters in the series anyway right? Main characters tended to be exaggeratedly kickass, she couldn't have picked a better group to tag along with. _Except… Don't main characters usually face a ridiculous amount of opponents?_

"Incoming!"

Everyone was suddenly standing very still, in what were definitely fighting poses. Maemi bit her lips to stop herself from possibly giving away their position. "Don't move until I tell you to," whispered Kakashi before moving his hands far too quickly for her to see.

Seconds passed by excruciatingly slowly, fraying her tense nerves. Sudden sounds were enough to send her pounding heart hammering away as if the enemy had already appeared. Staying calm proved a challenge, and her inability to do a simple breathing exercise only fueled her irritation.

She felt a hand on her shoulder again and looked up to see Kakashi, head turned away. He kept his right eye shut for some reason, and wasn't actually looking at her, maybe he was keeping an eye on his friends? _This is his reminder for me to stay put._ A demand she was more than happy to comply with.

Not a minute later, Maemi heard thuds nearby just as the downpour eased into a drizzle. Kakashi gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. She tried to refocus on her breathing, but the sudden rush of sounds was too distracting – and worrying – for her to think of anything but staring at the flak jacket in front of her.

_He's right here. I'll be fine. He won't leave me. He _can't _leave me. It'll be fine._ The mantra focused her mind and dulled the sounds of fighting, but she found herself flinching regardless. Kunai clashing or mumbo jumbo yelling brought back unpleasant memories she'd rather have forgotten.

For some strange reason, the fighting wasn't actually getting closer to them. _I know the others probably drew them away, but… it's not like we're invisible._ Or was it. She opened her mouth out of habit, but promptly closed it. If they were somehow out of sight (magic chakra spell?), it probably didn't apply to sounds. _Pretend you're under the invisibility cloak._ She blinked. _Oh my god they better not have a Mrs Norris._

Kakashi suddenly squeezed her shoulder, without letting go or easing the pressure. Before Maemi could even consider moving, something whizzed right in front of her face, lodging itself loudly in the trunk next to her. She blinked once, then again. Cautiously, she turned to look at the object that could've easily chopped off her nose and realized it was a kunai. Maemi huffed silently and looked up at Kakashi with a half stern, half incredulous look. He simply eased his grip on her, but didn't let go. Not yet.

_He's so dead. What the fuck- I mean, he could've_ warned_ me- Sure, ok, he actually did, but like. Really? He better find a way to invent telepathy or something, because I canNOT handle this shit._

Maemi was so engrossed in her thoughts she didn't hear the suddenly overwhelming silence. Kakashi finally let go of her shoulder, which was apparently enough to loosen her tongue. No sooner had Kakashi uttered 'release' (release what, her shoulder?) that she unleashed the questions. "What the fuck was that? Couldn't you have warned me by any other means than inflicting a bruise? I know we're 'connected' or whatever, but uhh, can't read your mind. Not yet anyway, that'd be super weird..."

Kakashi replaced his forehead protector on his weird eye and gave her a tired smile. "You did well."

"… I did what now?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't move, and you didn't." He smiled again. It looked condescending somehow.

"Uh. Yeah. Great? I just- I don't know..." Maemi looked at her feet and mumbled some more.

"To be honest I was most impressed at the length of your silence."

Twitch. Maemi's glare was back in full force. "Oh you were, were you." He was still smiling, but he looked like he tried too hard not to laugh. "I'll make a note to talk you to death and hope your ears fall off." She looked like she meant it.

"Then I'll make a point never to listen to you again." And just like that he turned his back on her and towed her towards his friends, who were approaching at varying paces. Maemi's mood dulled when faced with the aftermath of a battlefield. She stared at the surroundings in quiet shock and a tinge of awe. "Any injuries?"

Yamato shook his head and gestured behind him, revealing Sakura already hard at work with her glowing hands of healing. "A few scratches, thankfully nothing serious."

"Great, let's regroup quickly." Kakashi found the remains of their campsite and salvaged whatever was left of their belongings. Maemi was glad she kept her backpack glued to her, or the plushie could be part of the torn soggy pieces littering the forest ground.

Sai, Shikamaru and the two new weird guys joined them shortly, and helped gather their friends' things. Despite Sakura's supernatural wound erasing, Maemi noticed the new ragged look most clothes suddenly adorned. _All that from a short skirmish… No, a full blown fight. Wait, did they actually kill them?_ The thought stopped her cold.

Kakashi wasn't oblivious to the sudden, albeit fuzzy, rock feeling in his stomach. "What's wrong?" He kept his tone quiet and neutral, not wanting to draw attention to her. The others were more than happy to have a chance to rest.

Maemi glanced around uncomfortably, as if fighting thoughts and feelings. "Did… did they die?" _No. That's not the right question._ "Did- you kill them?"

Kakashi stared at her for a (long) moment. "Yes." He let that sink in. Sugarcoating wouldn't help, she needed to learn what kind of world this was. "If we hadn't, they would've come back with bigger numbers. They might have attacked the village. It's our job as shinobi to protect the village."

Maemi surprised him by nodding slowly. "Right. Yeah. Kill or be killed." Yet the gap between knowing the words and experiencing them felt wide enough to fit the entire Asian continent. After a minute of heavy silence, she looked up with a tentative smile. "I hope you're a good teacher."

Kakashi blinked in surprise. "Teacher?"

"How else am I going to learn all about this world? We're literally stuck together." Maemi took a step backwards to illustrate her point, which was made once Kakashi was dragged forward.

He chuckled. "Yes, I suppose I'll have time to chide you into obedience..."

"… You do know I'm not a dog, right?"

"Well, we'll certainly find out who learns best."

Maemi coughed out a laugh. "Great. Any way you can lower your standards to the absolute minimum? That way I'll be sure not to disappoint."

The rest of the group finally joined them. Everyone, including the unlikely duo, was glad to catch a break, which was surprisingly spent quietly. The giant dog's quiet growl was enough to rouse the shinobi out of their comfort.

"Let's get going." The tone was nonchalant, and people naturally fell into their previous positions of casually guarding the awkward pair. Naruto took off with some loud expression, which the dog guy answered (or challenged, she couldn't tell) only to be followed by two quiet yet exasperated looking girls – Sakura, and the freaky (but cool?) eyes girl.

The rest of them walked quietly, aside from the mud squishing under their steps. Maemi dared break the silence. "How much longer?"

"Not too far now, a few hours at this pace."

Maemi nodded. She started feeling sluggish for some reason, so sluggish, in fact, it was hard keeping her eyes open, or her feet straight. Predictably, she tripped on her next step, but Kakashi thankfully caught her before she fell flat on her face. "Sorry..." she slurred. Why was talking this hard?

"Don't worry, it's the aftereffect of using chakra." Very easily, too easily in fact, he put her on his back before resuming walking as if nothing happened.

Maemi frowned. "You din't evenfight, howd you use shakra?" Great, now she sounded drunk.

Kakashi chuckled. "I used genjutsu. I made us blend into our surroundings, but- as you can tell, that uses energy."

"… I knew it, invisbil'ty cloak's real. G'job, Potter." She awkwardly tried to pat his head but only managed to smush his right eye before her hand fell limply at her side.

Ignoring what were certainly amused snickers, Kakashi adjusted her head on a shoulder rather than have extra weight on his neck (strained necks were the worst). But actually… getting her in the village like this would probably be an advantage. They could pick up the speed, avoid most prying eyes, hide the fact that he was incapable of movement without dragging extra weight, but more importantly, they could go the rest of the way in peaceful silence.

"Let's go home." And just like that, teams tightened their formations and took off at their usual speed.

They reached the village in less than an hour without any additional surprises. Kakashi went straight home, followed by Sai and Sakura; the rest of them had to report to the Hokage. Until the Hokage was briefed and analyzed the situation, as well as Maemi, he'd try to limit her exposure to the village and other people in general. The less people knew about her, the better.

Once home, he awkwardly eased her on his bed and sat on the floor against the frame. This was bound to get uncomfortable. Maybe there was a trick to getting an extra foot between them? There were tests to be done, limits to be tried, and theories to be tested. But for now, he'd afford himself an actual complete break.

Sakura and Sai sat in his living room, also enjoying a breather after that last battle. They didn't have a specific role to play at the moment, per se, but it was best to be ready for any surprise – and Konoha was no stranger to surprises.

– – – –

When Maemi woke up, she thought she was in a dream (again). Surely she couldn't be this comfortable, there was a fluffy pillow and everything! She looked around semi sleepily and determined she was in someone's apartment. Definitely a guy's, if the decor was anything to go by. Rolling on her side, a spike of silver hair caught her eye.

_Yup, there it is._ The comfy spell wore off, and Maemi was left soaking in disillusionment – a feeling which was (thankfully) growing dimmer every day, yet not fast enough. It was strange to expect waking up to a strange world without feeling out of place. _Then again, the day that happens is the day hope dies._ And Tsune would probably laugh at her for being so black and white, but it made sense to her. As long as Maemi held onto the (misguided? foolish?) belief she was going home, this world would feel strange and alien, and when- no, not when, _if_ it didn't, she knew she was in trouble.

Kakashi's head drooped slightly, but it was enough to jerk him awake. "Oh, you're awake. Good."

Maemi rolled her eyes at him. _Yeah cuz you're such a pro at taking things in stride..._ "Yeah, good morning to you too."

"It's actually late afternoon," replied Kakashi, completely deadpan.

"Ha very ha. Please tell me stand up comedy doesn't exist here, or I might be tempted to drag you on stage."

Kakashi stared. "Stand up comedy?" He stood up effortlessly. "Does that mean I'm funny now?"

"Oh my _god_! Yes, you're hilarious, a real comedian." But she did have to hide a few chuckles.

Satisfied, Kakashi sat on the edge of the bed, his poker face back on. Silence ensued. But not for long.

"So..." Kakashi turned to look at her. Maemi looked back at him after a quick glance around the room. "Is this your place?"

"What gave it away?"

"Oh I don't know..." Maemi nonchalantly pointed to the pictures on his bedside table, then leaned in for a closer look. "Lemme guess, you were popular with the girls and despised by most guys?"

Kakashi's face betrayed slight surprised. Maemi laughed. "You look like a real hard-ass. It's a good thing you changed." She pointed to his other picture. "It's not hard to tell."

"Good observations."

Maemi curtsied, then frowned at her clothes. "Please tell me I get to change out of these."

"Ah. Yes, I suppose we should. Sakura?"

Sakura knocked on the door once before coming in. "What is it?"

Maemi pointed to her clothes. "I want out."

Sakura bit down a laugh. "I'll see what I can find."

Before she could close the door, Maemi couldn't help herself. "Please make it non-ninja!" She glanced back at Kakashi, who was still staring at her either in a daze or bored disbelief. "What? It's dangerous false advertising."

"I suppose that's true… but-"

"We're in the village and the whole team will protect me. That's great, yes, I've been told. But it doesn't feel right to add another layer to a lie I'm sure 90% of the people I might eventually meet will be told."

Kakashi seemed to ponder the thought. "Let's talk about this then, before we meet with the Hokage."

"Really?" Maemi's frown softened at his nod. Kakashi sat in front of her on the bed, legs crossed comfortably.

"Let's go over the village's structure, shinobi and villagers' responsibilities and security risks."

Maemi blinked at him in quiet confusion. "… You're teaching me now?"

"No time like the present," Kakashi smiled, "it'll give you an idea of what you'll need to do to blend in, and hopefully what to get accustomed to. It'll help prepare the story you tell others."

"You mean the lie."

"You can't divulge the whole truth, it'll put your life – and by extension, mine – at risk, until we can figure out the what, why and how of this- situation."

Maemi sighed but slowly nodded. "… Yeah, I guess so..." She crossed her legs, put both hands on her knees and bowed her head. "Please teach me well."

Kakashi didn't have to be told twice and started with the bare bones of the village's power structure, adding comments about their country (and world) and how those structures played out internationally. He couldn't get much further when Sakura came back with what seemed like a ton of bags.

Maemi and Kakashi both blinked in confusion. "And those are?"

"For you!" Sakura grinned proudly, one arm already engulfed in the largest bag. "I don't know your style so I got you a bit of everything so you can try and choose as you go." Sakura paused just as Maemi gave her the look. "… Right… Trying these on might be difficult."

"No shit sherlock." Blank stares met her again, and Maemi gave up with a sigh. "Never mind."

Sakura smiled tentatively, "I'll leave these here for you, okay?" She ducked out of the room before Maemi could utter another sound.

Maemi wanted to face-plant into the bed and never get up again. _Why is everything so complicated, I can't even do the simplest things..._ She chuckled despite herself, which only puzzled her quiet shadow. He didn't say anything yet, but the more he didn't, the louder she laughed, and the more she laughed, the more confused he became! The bed rattled with Maemi's uncontrollable laughter, and Kakashi's concern did nothing but prolong the hysterics.

It took a few minutes, but eventually Maemi got herself under control. "I, I'm so-" she paused to breathe, "I'm sorry… didn't think I needed this."

Kakashi wasn't sure how to respond. "Are you alright?"

Maemi wheezed out another laugh, took a halting breath and nodded slowly before wiping the corner of her eyes. "Oh man… what a laugh." She could see Kakashi's blank stare and sat up straight. "We're gonna need to work on this… distance thing."

That he agreed with. "Indeed. We only need to recall what happened before we gained that extra foot..."

"No I mean, we're gonna need to work on it now. For, um, practical purposes?" Maemi paused. "You _do_ have a bathroom in here, right?"

Then it dawned on him. "Of course, a toilet and a shower. Unfortunately they're not quite small enough for one of us to wait outside..."

_Story of my life._ "Of course not." Maemi repressed a sigh. "Well we're gonna need to figure something out in the next 10 minutes then."

"I don't suppose you'd be comfortable if I were to turn my back on you?"

Maemi's cheeks turned red as she opened her mouth to dispute the obviously simple solution. "That's- but, it's so..." Gestures filled in where words failed her.

"Invasive?"

"Yes, exactly!"

"I'm open to other _practical _solutions you may have..."

Maemi sighed and sat back on the bed, trying hard not to pout like a child.

"You didn't seem to have a problem in the forest… May I ask why this is any different?"

"Because this is civilization, and in any apartment, people don't stand in the bathroom together." Maemi was obstinately looking at the floor.

"In any apartment, people aren't normally stuck together either."

He had a point, damnit. "… Do you at least have headphones?" Kakashi's frown was answer enough. "So no mp3 players or iPods either, of course." She held back a sigh. "How do you guys listen to music then?"

"We have concerts." It sounded like the most obvious statement of the year.

"Fine… I guess covering your ears will have to do." She got off the bed and grabbed a few bags.

Kakashi led her out of the room and to the bathroom, where he briefly hesitated before closing the door behind them. He couldn't remember a time when he hadn't been alone in a bathroom, and this newfound apprehension wasn't his – entirely. He turned his back on Maemi, leaving her just enough distance to reach the toilet. As promised, he covered his ears (very visibly) and waited for her to signal him. He didn't have to wait long to feel a tap on his shoulder.

"Don't turn around!"

Kakashi heard rustling. "Ah, yes. Let the fashion show begin."

"Har har..." Maemi couldn't help but roll her eyes. But she would ask for his opinion, she needed to know what would blend in best, after all.

Several outfits later, Maemi settled on relatively plain clothes, a dark blue tunic reaching mid-thighs and black leggings. It was stylish enough, but most notably practical. "How about this? Do I look average now?"

Kakashi looked up from his book and stared, gauging. The tunic held no clan or village symbols, allowed ease of movements and was common enough to blend in perfectly among villagers. "Yes, that's perfect. No risk of you being affiliated with any village should anything happen."

"As it's bound to..." muttered Maemi. Kakashi quirked an eyebrow. "Nothing, never mind." She hastily folded the other clothes and shoved them back in their bags. She was about to turn around when the sound of flushing made her freeze. _Did he just..._

"Let's go back to learning then, shall we?" He walked past her, heading for his bedroom.

Maemi's mouth fell slightly open. "What, no warning?"

"You were otherwise occupied. Besides, this _will_ happen again, might as well get used to a permanent roommate."

"I sure as hell don't hope it's permanent."

"You and me both," replied Kakashi from the edge of the bed. "But it is for now." Maemi sat in front of him. "Now, tell me where we left off."

A knock on the door interrupted them before Yamato poked his head in. "Sorry, Kakashi-senpai, Hokage-sama will be waiting for you at dusk."

"Understood. Thanks, Yamato." The door closed again. "That leaves us… about an hour. Why don't you recap what you remember."

Maemi nodded and explained as best she could what she thought she understood. Aside from a few corrections, she was glad to know she'd learned the basics without any gross mistakes. _I can do this._ It only took one look from Kakashi for her to ask. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Kakashi smiled, genuinely it seemed. "You learn fast, and it's good for you, too." Maemi blinked, confused. "You radiate confidence. It's a good look on you."

A smile crept on her lips. She did like learning. "Guess I'm better than a dog after all." They both laughed.

"Let's go, the Hokage's waiting."

– – – – – – – –

A note about genjutsu: I was under the impression you can, in fact, use them to conceal yourself (hello I'm suddenly part of a tree), got confused when I researched it a bit, then gave up because… why couldn't you? But if it's wrong please let me know and I'll fix it. I also work under the assumptions mp3s aren't a thing in their world… ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Recommendations: Kdrama: W – Two Worlds. Manga-hopping! It's very similar and yet so different than concepts I've considered (for another fic) and there were a lot of thrilling plot-twisty things and I highly recommend it. I'm available on tumblr for rants. ;)


	15. Progress

Guess who moved again? To humidity and beyond! (Visa restrictions, gotta love 'em…) But let's say it's an adventure. I ended up in the middle of nowhere land National Park. Internet is satellite only and costs an arm and a leg, insects aplenty, nearly stepped on a snake the other night, toads often ram into my door, and geckos are frequent room visitors! Not to mention the dingos and kangaroos.

Slight warning: I'm not sure I'll update before I finish my 3 months here, I got it stuck in my head it'll be my novel writing retreat, so I'll intend to finish my first draft by mid-June! We'll see how fanfic on the side goes, but as always, thank you for your patience!

More importantly, thank you so much for the reviews! I checked them after a while offline (packing/moving/job hunting) and woah! It's a great surprise (and awesome feeling). :D I have a vague idea of where I'm headed, but I haven't decided on an ending yet… Let's see where we end up, shall we? Buckle up!

– – – – – – – –

**Chapter 15: Progress**

Maemi kept biting her lip, fiddling with her hair, or pulling at her sleeves. She just couldn't stop squirming, but despite her building anxiety, she couldn't think of a single question to ask her shadow. They'd only just left his apartment, accompanied by Sakura and Sai for reasons she'd rather not think about, but she felt like they should've come up with a game plan before meeting the village's leader.

"Relax, it'll be fine." Kakashi glanced at her, his eye soft.

"I really should've prepared a list of questions… Shit, I don't think I'm ready."

_Ahh, there's the worrier._ Kakashi smiled, slightly amused. "Well, no need to overthink it. Tsunade-sama has already been briefed, she'll most likely ask for details."

Maemi looked up at the name. "Tsunade? Is that her name?" How could they not even tell her that. "How am I even supposed to address her?" There were so many factors fueling her anxiety, not to mention all the ones she couldn't even think of because there was _so much_ unknown in this world.

Sakura chipped in lightly. "Don't worry too much, Maemi-san. Tsunade-shishou has a mean bark but doesn't bite – unless provoked." She paused, realizing who she was talking to and chuckled awkwardly. "Just- try not to pick a fight?"

"Yes, _please-_\- she's not someone you want to cross," added Kakashi. He made a note of this moment, in case Maemi did something stupidly unpredictable, he now had an 'I told you so' conversation to point to.

"You guys aren't helping," grumbled Maemi, picking at her nails before nibbling on her thumb.

She was glad the village was quieting down. Not only could she look around mostly leisurely, but the bustling people around them had better things to do than look at their group. If only it was always this easy to blend in. Maemi took her time to admire the buildings, and what weird shapes they had!

Occasionally, Sakura or Kakashi would point to a building and tell her what it was, like the library, or the hospital – probably the one she didn't need help identifying. Why did all hospitals look so similar? Granted, this one was modeled after the hospitals in her country, but still.

The one part of the village that had drawn her admiration had been the huge faces carved in stones. "You guys have your own Mt Rushmore!?" Their quiet confusion reminded her their history classes differed widely. She'd dismissed her jargon yet again, sparing a passing thought she could teach her shadow as much as she had to learn. Not like it would do him any good, but it might help her feel less like a ranting lunatic.

The sunset had been quite pretty, at least, the part she'd seen before they took to the street, where the buildings obscured at least half of the sky. Lights lit up the street, but most shops started closing down, except for restaurants and bars. _How… normal._ The village felt more familiar to her than Sunagakure had been, despite both of them being completely foreign. Maybe it had to do with the design, a smidgen of small town feel mixed in with some aspects of modern busy urban life. To some extent, it reminded her of her hometown.

They kept walking towards their Mt Rushmore (she should probably ask what it was called) and she finally noticed the building shaped with domes. "Is that it?"

"Yes, that's the Hokage's office." For once, there was no trace of irritability in Kakashi's answer.

"And the faces carved in stones are actually…?"

Kakashi nodded, glad to see she was indeed a good learner. "The previous Hokage, from the First," he pointed at the left-most face, "to the Fifth," he pointed at the right-most face, a woman's. "She's the current Hokage."

"Right, yeah I figured, her being the only woman up there..." _Unsurprisingly..._

Sakura was the first inside the building, leading the way up some stairs and through dimly lit corridors. Maemi looked around, as if inspecting the place. "Seems pretty lax, for a leader's office, don'tcha think?" She'd seen far too many movies about the U.S. president and his army of Secret Service to think that being able to walk up to your leader's office without a hitch was actually feasible. Not that she'd tried (or want to try) with her own Prime Minister, but she imagined a similar, if less Hollywood-esk, situation.

Kakashi chuckled. "Are you a security expert now?"

"Actually, I did study it for a year. It doesn't make me an expert, but I'm no novice either." Her voice rang with unwavering confidence.

_Isn't she full of surprises._ Before he could pry about her study background, two knocks echoed down the corridor.

"Tsunade-shishou, Kakashi-sensei has come to see you."

"Shouldn't it be Kakashi 'and friend'? Or '+1'?" mumbled Maemi, hovering between feeling glum or amused.

He just shook his head at her, as if not at all surprised she had a witty retort even to a simple introduction. To be fair, he probably wouldn't be surprised by _her_ bark anymore, she'd undoubtedly abused it on their journey. "Do try and behave..."

Maemi acquiesced a vague nod. "To the extent where it's possible."

Kakashi led the way in, followed by Sai, before Sakura excused herself and closed the door.

"Tsunade-sama," said Kakashi.

"Yes, yes, come in," she ushered them in with her free hand, her eyes fixed on some compelling documents.

Maemi glanced around as she followed her shadow inside (hey, Yamato was here too) until her gaze settled on a friendly looking lady holding a… _Is that a pig?_ She opened her mouth to ask whoever was next to her if the pig could _also_ talk but the blond lady, seemingly finished with whatever paperwork, stopped her before she could embarrass herself.

"Maemi, is it?" Maemi nodded cautiously. "I've heard quite a lot about you."

_Geh. All bad things then._ Maemi attempted a smile. "Nice to meet you too..."

Tsunade barked out a laugh. "I like you more already." She smiled in Yamato's direction.

Maemi, following her gaze, stared at him. _Figures._ Although he had every right to be suspicious of her, she'd hoped those doubts had subsided by now.

"I've heard the overall story and read Gaara's report, tell me everything else."

Maemi stared blankly at Tsunade, glanced at Kakashi with knitted eyebrows, then tried real hard not to roll her eyes by closing them instead. "How am I supposed to know what was in his report?"

Kakashi interrupted, not wanting this to escalate. "Start at the beginning. Only you know what happened when you first came here."

Maemi shook her head quickly, as if clearing her thoughts. "Yeah, sure." Except, where the hell did she start? Her world? This one? "From uhh- from where do I start?"

"Whichever beginning you prefer."

Tsunade frowned slightly but Kakashi shook his head once.

"Fine..." Maemi began from the woods, she'd have time to explain about the plushie later, and frankly, she didn't want to bring up her graduation or her best friend in front of so many people. Just in case emotions bubbled up and burst out embarrassingly. As she retold her tale, she felt a part of her listening skeptically, throwing derisive comments of 'tall tales' and 'do you seriously think this happened,' as if getting this reaction from others wasn't enough.

To her credit, Tsunade's face remained carefully passive, save for the occasional frown.

Maemi paused, having just recounted her terrifying free fall over the forest. She still remembered Sai's birds disappearing, the feeling of gravity pulling her down to her certain death. Uncertain yet again, she glanced at Tsunade, sitting in front of her, before continuing. Maemi had woken up in a cave, sore but alive, until pain in her abdomen was the last thing she remembered.

"Then I woke up in the hospital..." She failed to mention her panic attack, no need to make her sound any more unstable at this point.

Tsunade closed her eyes for a moment, as if revisiting and filing away information. "Gaara only mentioned the shared wounds, the extent of which will need to be tested, but Yamato tells me there's been a change." She gazed intently at Maemi, who tried hard not to shrink, gulp, or cower.

"Yea—s…" Maemi corrected herself. She should probably try to remain polite to an authority figure.

"And?" asked Tsunade, turning towards Kakashi.

He demonstrated the change by sidestepping two steps. Maemi flailed as she was dragged along the wooden floor but managed to keep her balance.

"A little warning next time!" Though mumbled, the reproach was unmistakable.

Tsunade's frown deepened. "Any changes since it happened?"

"Yes, we gained a foot between us – though I can't say I know how..." replied Kakashi.

Tsunade crossed her hands in front of her face and leaned on them. "We'll need detailed accounts of what you both remember right before and after the changes. If our suspicions are correct, the doll is involved, but it's probably not as simple as it seems."

Maemi tried to recall what had happened before she felt the stab wound and instantly tensed up. _Nope, bad idea._ The memories were too vivid and she was in no rush to remember them.

"If we don't make any progress, we'll ask the Yamanaka for help. Until we have answers, Kakashi, you won't be going on any missions. Do what you can to instruct Maemi, and treat her as you would a student. I'll want to see you both again." Tsunade didn't hide her smirk, and untangled her hands at once to shoo them out.

Maemi followed Kakashi out the door, glancing around to see why Yamato and Sai were trying hard to hide their growing smirks. As soon as the doors closed behind her, the questions slipped out. "What's so funny? And what does she mean treat me like a student? You're already teaching me about the village."

Kakashi sighed once, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ahh… and here I thought I was done training..." All the early mornings, the routines, the exercises… So much work. And for one person? Who was below even academy students on every level? And he couldn't just pawn her off to Iruka, curse their demonic bond!

"Oi! Are you listening?" Maemi shook a hand in front of his face for good measure.

"Ahh, yes… Sorry. I'll explain everything, but let's get some food on the way back." He bid good night to Yamato and Sai and watched them disappear, shackle free, with a wisp of envy.

Maemi bit down her retort and went along, not one to refuse food. "What kind of food do you guys eat?" Curiosity was rearing its head again.

Kakashi gave her a quick overview of the typical food seen in the Fire Country, sometimes comparing it to more or less appetizing dishes from other countries. Maemi peppered the conversation with questions, like customs, and was tipping a thing (a concept she had to explain), what about take-out food, which was answered when they got their order and Kakashi headed back to his apartment.

Her stomach now roaring with hunger, Maemi couldn't help but share details about her world and the type of foods she'd eaten, seen on TV, or wanted to eat while traveling (she couldn't help the pang of sadness at the thought). Kakashi seemed impressed at the wide variety, and even more so when she told him her world had over 200 countries.

"Have you been to all of them?"

"Oh no, traveling's very expensive, for starters, and some countries have stricter border control and longer delays for visas, and others you just don't wanna go to..."

By then, they'd reached Kakashi's home, and they sat at his small dinner table next to the kitchen, eating, and somehow still conversing.

"What kind of countries wouldn't you want to visit?"

Maemi gave him a rueful smile, "I'd have to give you the world's longest history lesson, and I'm pretty sure you don't want that. Let's just say- in some countries, the people in power think they know what's best for their people, refuse and outright punish criticism – however mild – and reason in a manner that defies logic."

Kakashi nodded, and Maemi noticed to her great disappointment, he'd already finished eating. Again.

"Seems like these types of people exist regardless of which world we're in."

"Yeah… Tsune would probably agree and quote her favorite French saying: 'Il faut de tout pour faire un monde.' Basically, 'you need all sorts to make a world'… And what a world! Shinobi. Hah!" Maemi couldn't help laughing.

Kakashi smiled. "Indeed. Lucky you."

Maemi frowned slightly. "Is it my imagination, or am I detecting some seriousness? What does that mean, lucky me?"

No way to avoid it. "I did promise to tell you everything..." He nearly sighed, as if he almost didn't want to say his piece, but Maemi pierced him with her gaze. "The Hokage apparently means for you to start training." There, that was a good beginning.

"Training." Maemi stared at him blankly. He simply nodded. "For what, a triathlon?"

"I believe she meant training… as a shinobi."

Maemi breathed out a laugh. "I'm sorry what now." The thought was so ridiculous, words failed her.

Kakashi could feel the swirling of mixed emotions in his stomach, although he now knew to associate this weird blurry feeling to Maemi. But the feelings weren't actually that fuzzy anymore, he could discern them more easily, but somehow still distinguish them from his own. "Not as a full shinobi, that would take ages-"

"Or a miracle!"

"But it'd be a good start to train your body. Develop some stamina."

Maemi frowned at his grin. "Is this revenge for the walking argument?" She sighed and played with her leftover food, still hungry yet not in the mood to eat. "What if I just say no?"

"Mm… I'd hoped you wouldn't be stubborn… There's not much I can do aside from dragging you behind me, but that would defeat the purpose."

"Any particular reason for training you're not sharing?"

Kakashi half-smiled. "I suppose you could say that. I believe the Hokage hopes that training might increase your chakra tolerance, for starters."

Maemi stared at him skeptically. "How would that work?"

Kakashi launched an in-depth explanation of chakra, including its source and manifestation. By the end of the mini lecture, Maemi's brain was buzzing with new information, which made enough theoretical sense she could see the point in training physically.

She relented. "Yeah… I guess training would only do me some good." _If only to rub it in Tsune's face. Ninja in training, hah!_ "But please keep your expectations to an absolute minimum. My body's been neglected for too long, I was busy cramming information in my brain. Actually, scratch that, don't have_ any_ expectations, it'll spare you unavoidable disappointments."

Slightly relieved, Maemi's appetite returned slowly and she resumed eating the rest of her dinner in silence. Kakashi watched her eat without really seeing, he was already formulating a training regimen for her. Having to start from the basics would eat up a lot of time, but since he wasn't going anywhere until his problem (well, _their_ problem) was resolved – or at the very least understood – it seemed he had a lot of time to kill. And she'll likely hate him within the next 24 hours.

Maemi looked up at him, having just finished her dinner. "What's with the guilt?"

Taken off guard, Kakashi fumbled to provide an answer.

Smirking lightly, Maemi leaned back in her chair. "Lemme guess, you don't want to train me – no offense taken, I wouldn't want to train me either – or you already know I'm going to suck and it's gonna take all your patience not to yell at me. Am I close?"

Surprisingly, she nearly was. "Pretty close." And all he could sense was curiosity and maybe a tinge of anxiety.

"Ah well, what can I say, my intuition's sometimes spot on." Maemi grinned. "You're really starting to hate this thing aren't you, me being able to read past your poker face?"

"Let's just say you have an unfair advantage. You wouldn't guess nearly as accurately if you based your intuition on my face alone."

"Oh you think so, do you? Nothing to be done about that though, unless we somehow figure this thing out and beat it." Kakashi chuckled at her words. "Something funny?"

"You sound like Naruto." His voice definitely had a certain fondness to it.

"He was your student, huh."

Kakashi nodded, his joy suddenly dulled. "One of them, yes."

"Sakura too?" Maemi wasn't oblivious to the change in his behavior (or feelings), but she felt that stopping the conversation would be more intrusive than trying to keep it going. He nodded again. "I thought so, they looked pretty young in that picture."

Of course, she'd been in his room; she'd seen the picture they'd taken after their training. "Yes, they'd just graduated from the Academy."

"Hehh..." Maemi's stomach was uncomfortable, and it had nothing to do with the dinner she'd finished. It felt like lead, heavy and indigestible. But it wasn't her stomach. "How old are students at the Academy? What kind of stuff do they learn?"

The distraction seemed to work, Kakashi abandoned burdensome memories to answer her questions, and soon found himself teaching Maemi about their education system. She asked a lot of follow-up questions, which lead him to believe she really was good at making mental notes. She offered a few comparisons to the school system she grew up in, which did nothing to alleviate Kakashi's concerns about her claims of his world being fictional. If anything, it cemented the possibility that she really was telling the truth.

_She hasn't lied so far… Or she's an exceptional liar, but to be able to go this far with a lie would require a lot of effort._ He could always ask her questions when she was unprepared for them, see if her answers changed or she acted confused, but he had a feeling that'd be a waste of time.

"Helloooo~!" Maemi waved her hand in front of his face and Kakashi realized he'd been, once again, too deep in thoughts.

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

Maemi heaved a resigned sigh. "Never mind what I was saying. Why don't you spill what's on your mind? I can tell it's nagging at you."

Unless he was mistaken, her accuracy was increasingly sharp. Was she a natural, or could he do the same if he only paid attention? "No, nothing really..."

"Liar." Maemi wasn't impressed. She quirked an eyebrow at him, giving him a second chance.

Kakashi's shoulders slumped. "I was just thinking about what you said. About this world being fictional." Maemi straightened up and tensed slightly. "Every time you talk about your world, comparing it to this one- I want to find some inconsistencies, but all you give me somehow lines up."

Maemi lowered her gaze and looked away. "I'm not that great a liar," she said softly.

"That's not what I meant-"

"But I wish I was!" She locked eyes with him again. "I wish I could say I'm from another world that has nothing to do with yours, and that the damn plushie meant nothing and could be roasted to the core without one of us maybe dying and taking the other with them."

A wishful silence reigned over them for a moment.

"I was thinking a BBQ would be nice this time of year."

Maemi stared at him, then gave in to laughter. "I knew it! I knew you wanted to get rid of it!" Kakashi smiled innocently. "But a BBQ? Who were you going to feed that too? You do know it's not edible right?"

"Oh I know a guy… but you're right, even he probably wouldn't touch it. He wouldn't want to be cursed."

Maemi rolled her eyes, but her smile remained intact. "What, like you don't think it's a curse?"

"Well… I'm not exactly sure what I'd call it, since I never asked for it to happen." He smiled mischievously.

"I didn't peg you as someone to hold grudges. You're just trying to get back at me any way you can, aren't you?" She laughed again. "Can you blame me though? I'd like to see you react after landing in another world!" Then again maybe not, being a skilled shinobi, he'd probably keep his wits about him a lot more than she did.

Kakashi chuckled. "Ahh… I wouldn't say that."

"Whatever, have your fun while you can. I'm sure you'll regret it all tomorrow." Maemi gathered their empty containers and stood up before pausing. "Do you guys recycle?" If it was anything like Japan, the answer would be yes, but it was hard to imagine how plastic even got manufactured in this world when technology only seemed to have progressed so far.

Kakashi nodded, grabbed their cups and stood up to show her the trash, which was divided in three bins: burnable garbage, plastics, and paper.

_How very like home._ She didn't allow herself to feel that throb of homesickness and disposed of the trash appropriately while Kakashi rinsed their cups. She needed a distraction though, or her thoughts would do a 180 and wallow in misery. "Can I take a shower?" As soon as the words left her mouth, her brain caught up and her cheeks heated up. How could she forget he'd have to be in the same room! That bath in Sunagakure felt like a lifetime ago, and she wished she could go back.

A bit surprised, Kakashi took it in stride. "Sure… Did Sakura get you some sleeping clothes too?" He didn't think to ask earlier, but now it seemed like an obvious oversight. Maemi shrugged noncommittally and followed him into the room, where all the bags Sakura had gotten still laid in a somewhat neat pile. Kakashi let her rummage through until she found something comfortable, which became a shirt and shorts.

"Let's get you a towel..." he said while striding towards his closet. All that was left was the actual showering… Maemi stayed uncharacteristically silent as she took the towel from him, and barely reacted when he took off his flak jacket. It was only when he went to grab a book from from his shelf that he paused, then turned around.

Maemi looked up at him with a cautiously excited face.

"Huh."

"Really? That's all you can say?" Maemi barely concealed her excitement. "You need better reactions. Like- what the fuck, how did this happen? Yay?" She stared gleefully at the extra foot of space between them. She took a step back, and Kakashi only dragged one step forward.

She felt his puzzlement most, but there was some excitement – though very tame, as if he didn't want to expect too much too soon. "Yes, how indeed..."

"We didn't do anything, aside eating good food." /i_But great timing!_/i

Kakashi mulled some thoughts over, thinking back to what could have lead them to have space at all between them. There was one common point… "We talked."

"Well, yeah, I'm not mute – as you like to point out – and you sometimes answer." She couldn't help smirking.

"No I mean, last time too- we talked, and we got extra space."

Maemi frowned, trying to remember the details. "Huh." _That seems awfully simple._ "So what, the more we talk the more space we get?"

"I doubt it's merely talking. At your pace, we'd have fit an entire village between us if that were the case." Kakashi gave her a half smile, which she answered by rolling her eyes. No, if his hunch was right, it had less to do with the amount of talking and more to do with the quality of the talks. "In any case, we'll just have to pay attention to when it happens."

"No problemo. Paying attention is my favorite pastime, or so I've been told."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the weird language but knew better than to ask. "Great. I believe you wanted a shower?"

"Yep." She tried to control her smile and her excitement at the extra space gained just in time, but was certain he'd picked up on it and waited for him to comment. Except he didn't. Once in the bathroom, he settled himself in the corner next to the shower, facing the wall. Unhurriedly he opened his book and started reading.

Maemi hesitated for a split second, but then decided to do everything in the shower with the curtains pulled. Once her new clothes were hastily folded within arm's reach, she turned on the water and tried not to think about the fact that a man was in the same room. A ninja; expert in stealth. She shook her head and instead reveled in the simple joy of feeling clean, something she'd always taken for granted before.

Even over the running water, she could hear pages being turned, and she knew Kakashi was making noise to let her know where he was. Still, she felt guilty for confining him in here and hurried to wash her hair, only to send shampoo into her eyes. _Ow ow ow, damnit!_ She put her face under the running water, her eyes still closed, and groped the air for her towel just outside the shower.

It took an instant, and a dreaded sense of premonition, for Maemi's foot to slip as she reached for her towel. She smacked her head on the bath's side despite her hands reaching for safety. "Do not- turn around… please." She managed to mumble through a slight groan.

Kakashi resisted, but his throbbing skull was hint enough as to what had happened. "And here I thought you could take care of yourself."

Maemi noted the strain in his voice and felt doubly guilty for inflicting him what would undoubtedly be a massive headache. "Yeah, yeah…" She forced herself to blink some shampoo out of her eyes under the water but now that she was kneeling in the shower, her towel was within reach to carefully wipe her stinging eyes. Once the pain was gone, she didn't even try to stand back up and finished rinsing her hair while sitting down.

Her head throbbed with nearly every movement and she was ridiculously relieved once she wore her sleeping clothes. Ready (yet not really) to face him, she took the towel from her hair. "Do you have a hairbrush or something?" _Not that you look like you use one..._

Kakashi deemed it safe to move again and stood up to grab a comb.

"That'll do," nodded Maemi who began to run said comb through her hair at once.

"My turn," said Kakashi, which was enough to momentarily freeze Maemi. With one hand, he swiveled her to face the corner while the other lightly pushed on her shoulder, to indicate she should sit. "Don't want another bruise, do we?"

She lightly shook her head and sat as requested, then focused all her attention on her hair. She heard clothes rustling, a light _clink_ and then the water running. She ran the comb through her hair again, wow look at this knot, isn't it quite beautiful in its complexity. She brushed it out. The more she brushed, the slower her thoughts whirled. _It's getting pretty long again..._ Images of Tsune and new haircuts sprang to mind, unsolicited. _Wonder if I'll stay here long enough to warrant a haircut..._

"Maemi-san?"

She shook those thoughts from her head and turned around to her new roommate. "Hm?"

"No, nothing, you just… seemed lost in thoughts."

"Yeah. Sorry." She stood up slowly, head throbbing again. He was right in predicting a nasty bruise, she could almost feel it forming.

"Let's get you to bed, you need some rest."

Maemi nodded absentmindedly, cleaned the comb from her hair and headed for the door. She felt so sluggish and tired all of a sudden she barely noticed Kakashi quickly running the comb through his hair before following her out of the bathroom.

Once in his bedroom, she stared at the bed in a daze. "In you go," said Kakashi as he pulled the covers for her.

"Wait- no, where are you sleeping? You take your bed, I'll sleep on the floor."

"No, you need a good rest, you take the bed."

Maemi slumped her shoulders, too tired to put up a fight, her head was killing her. "Fine, but we'll switch tomorrow..." she mumbled as she made herself comfortable. And oh, what delight was a real bed! She felt herself dozing off as soon as her head touched the pillow. She barely heard Kakashi making camp in his own bedroom. _I'm taking over his life..._ She sighed the guilt away and was out like a light.

– – – – – – – –

I've never laughed as hard as I did when watching Naruto, but episode 194 (a filler), is freakin' hilarious! Mostly because it could have been this story, if the bond had a physical form. If you need a laugh (who doesn't), I highly recommend it for its ridiculousness. ;)


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